''Free Men'' (french: Les Hommes libres) is a 2011 French

war drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

film written and directed by

Ismaël Ferroukhi Ismaël Ferroukhi (born 26 June 1962) is a French- Moroccan film director and screenwriter. Ferroukhi was born in Kenitra. He gained exposure with his 1992 short film ''L'Exposé'', which won the Kodak Prize at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival. Foll ...

, which recounts the largely untold story about the role that Algerian and other Muslims from the

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...

in Paris played in the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

and as rescuers of Jews during the German occupation (1940–1944). It features two historic figures:

Si Kaddour Benghabrit Abdelkader Ben Ghabrit (; 1 November 1868 – 24 June 1954), commonly known as Si Kaddour Benghabrit () was an Algerian religious leader, translator and interpreter who worked for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was the first rector of ...

, rector of the

Grand Mosque of Paris The Grand Mosque of Paris (french: Grande Mosquée de Paris), also known as the Great Mosque of Paris or simply the Paris Mosque, is located in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, 5th arrondissement and is one of the largest mosques in France. There ...

, and

Salim Halali Salim Halali or Salim Hilali ( ar, سليم الهلالي, birth name Simon Halali, 30 July 1920 – 25 June 2005) was an Algerian singer who performed Algerian music and Arabic Andalusian classical music. He was a pop singer rather than a prof ...

, an

Algerian Jewish The History of the Jews in Algeria refers to the history of the Jewish community of Algeria, which dates to the 1st century CE. In the 15th century, many Spanish Jews fled to the Maghreb, including today's Algeria, following expulsion from Spai ...

singer. The film stars

Tahar Rahim Tahar Rahim (born 4 July 1981) is a Franco-Algerian actor. He is known for his starring role as Malik El Djebena in the 2009 award-winning French movie ''A Prophet'' by Jacques Audiard, FBI Agent Ali Soufan in ''The Looming Tower'', Judas in the ...

playing a fictional young Algerian and

Michael Lonsdale Michael Edward Lonsdale-Crouch (24 May 1931 – 21 September 2020), commonly known as Michael Lonsdale and sometimes named as Michel Lonsdale, was a French actor and author who appeared in over 180 films and television shows. He is best know ...

as the rector.

Plot

In occupied Paris, the young unemployed Algerian, Younes Ben Daoud, makes a living on the

black market A black market, underground economy, or shadow economy is a clandestine market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality or is characterized by noncompliance with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the se ...

. He is arrested by the police, and to avoid prison he agrees to spy on the

Paris Mosque The Grand Mosque of Paris (french: Grande Mosquée de Paris), also known as the Great Mosque of Paris or simply the Paris Mosque, is located in the 5th arrondissement and is one of the largest mosques in France. There are prayer rooms, an outdoo ...

. The police suspect that the mosque leadership, including its rector

, is helping resistance fighters and protecting North African Jews by giving them Muslim birth certificates. While at the mosque, Younes meets the Algerian singer

. They become close friends. When Younes learns that Salim is Jewish and sees the work that the people of the mosque are doing, he stops collaborating with the police. The mosque has extended its hospitality to shelter European Jews seeking refuge in Paris and at risk during roundups by the Nazis. He becomes involved with Algerians who are part of the French Resistance, and who are also preparing for their own fight for independence from French colonialism after the war. Gradually he becomes transformed from being a politically ignorant immigrant into a fully fledged resistance fighter.

Main cast

as Younes Ben Daoud *

Mahmoud Shalaby Mahmoud (or Mahmud) Shalaby, or Mahmood Shalabi ( ar, محمود شلبي; he, מחמוד שלאבי or מחמוד שלבי), is an Israeli Arab actor born on July 19, 1982, in Acre. He has appeared in several films produced or co-produced in Franc ...

Lubna Azabal Lubna Azabal (born 15 August 1973) is a Belgian actress of Moroccan–Spanish descent. Career Azabal was born on 15 August 1973 in Brussels to a Moroccan father and a Spanish mother.Christopher Buchholz Christopher Buchholz (born 4 February 1962) is a German actor, who has appeared in more than 50 films since 1986. He is the son of actors Horst Buchholz Horst Werner Buchholz (4 December 1933 – 3 March 2003) was a German actor who appear ...

as Major von Ratibor * Farid Larbi (fr) as Ali *

Stéphane Rideau Stéphane Rideau (born 25 July 1976) is a French actor. Although intending to pursue a career in sports, he was discovered in 1992 at a rugby game and then auditioned for a role in the film ''Les Roseaux sauvages'' (''Wild Reeds'') by André Téc ...

as Francis *

Slimane Dazi Slimane Dazi (born 26 May 1960) is a French actor. Filmography References External links * French male film actors Living people 1960 births 21st-century French male actors French male television actors {{France-actor-stu ...

as Larbi * Bruno Fleury (fr) as The Inspector * François Delaive (fr) as Head of

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

Release

The film premiered at the

2011 Cannes Film Festival The 64th Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 22 May 2011. American actor Robert De Niro served as the president of the jury for the main competition and French filmmaker Michel Gondry headed the jury for the short film competition. South Ko ...

on 19 May 2011, and was released in France and Belgium on 28 September 2011. The film saw a limited (4 screens) US release on 16 March 2012, and a wider (14 screens) UK release on 25 May 2012.

Historical review

Although the singer Selim (Simon) Halali was indeed saved through the issuance of "Muslim" papers, there is no record to support the fact that there was a resistance network within the mosque. Historians Michel Renard and Daniel Lefeuvre also noted in the film several historical approximations, such as the judicial status of Algerians during the colonial era.

Critical response

The performance of Rahim, who starred in ''

A Prophet ''A Prophet'' (french: Un prophète) is a 2009 French prison crime film directed by Jacques Audiard with a screenplay by Audiard, with Thomas Bidegain, Abdel Raouf Dafri, and Nicolas Peufaillit, from a story by Dafri. The film stars Tahar Rahim ...

'' (2009), was praised by critics in this film. In February 2013, 28 film critics gave the film an average rating of 75% on Rotten Tomatoes, while 531 users gave it an average rating of 61%.Rotten Tomatoes: ''Free Men (2011)''
Linked 17 February 2014 The film won the

Radio-Canada The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

Audience Award at the 2012 edition of the

Cinéfranco Cinéfranco is an annual film festival in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which presents a weeklong program of both Canadian and international French language films. History The festival was established in 1997 by Marcelle Lean, a former chair of the On ...

film festival.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 1699185, Free Men
Press kit about Free Men
Film Movement Canada 2011 films 2010s French-language films French World War II films Films set in Paris 2011 war drama films Films about the French Resistance Films about immigration to Europe Films about Islam Films about Jews and Judaism French war drama films 2011 drama films Algeria in fiction 2010s French films