Far from Men

I understand that the present favors impressive filmmaking and today's generation is accustomed to a completely different pace. This film may bring a contemporary teenager to the brink of madness with its melancholy and slow rhythm of the desert landscape. But for me, it was an experience to see heartfelt filmmaking full of emotions without trying to cheaply impress. In the film, it has only been a few years since the bloody events of World War II ended in Europe. The coast of North Africa is still littered with mines and war veterans have not yet forgotten their traumas, and then things start to simmer in the cities and countryside of colonial Algeria. The Arab majority is raising its head and demanding self-determination, while the rule of the natives is unacceptable to the French settlers. The first protests and sabotage evolve into raids and assassinations, which turn into a real war. In a remote sparsely populated mountain pass is a school where students from a wide area gather, and their teacher tries to find a new meaning in life in their education and forget the unpleasant experiences of war. Although a foreigner by origin, he understands the essence of the conflict, understands the mechanism of civil war, and knows that it will be difficult to remain neutral in it. He knows the bitter ends of military campaigns and the price paid not only by the defeated but also by the victors. At a time when others find understanding through weapons, he will try to save one foreign life destined for death. Rather than a war film or an adventure story, it is a psychological drama of a person who goes against the current. For me, this film is an extraordinary experience. I applaud Viggo Mortensen, for whom it was to a considerable extent a personal project that allowed him to break away from the stereotype of characters like the gangster dad from A History of Violence. Overall impression: 90%. (04/09/2017)

And amazing piece that profits from the atmosphere that might not be for everyone, just like in the movies The American or A Most Wanted Man. In those, the cameraman would sometimes get lost in the landscapes, too, and so the viewer is left wandering in a quiet light for minutes in this movie; a light that doesn’t come off halogen lamps, but reflects off the infinite sand. Personally, I like these sorts of stories, just like I like Viggo Mortensen. You can find a lot of good human moments in the story that make you realize you’re grateful for Viggo, because no one else would show these emotions better. I might reconsider later and even give this five stars, because the ending is outright asking for it. (04/02/2016)

A slow and quiet melancholic film with a great atmosphere and a commendable idea. However, it bothered me a bit that as an almost entirely uninitiated viewer it took a long time for me to figure out who was with whom, against whom and why. (13/03/2016)

Just a film full of dust at first glance, but there's great theatre to be played out underneath it, too. A quiet film, full of small gestures, but when you add them all up you get something nice, even if you have to take a dustrag for it. Viggo Mortensen as an older, perhaps you could say broken, man who has been through a lot, and yet the viewer never learns what, it's just gently served up in hints. It's a small film, but it's something to hide in. I don't recommend it if you want a relaxing film, although I believe it's a good one to fall asleep to. (16/04/2016)