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As a wave of revolutions sweep the Middle East, Rachid Bouchareb’s Outside The Law arrives in North America at an important time. The film relates the traumatic experience of the movement for Algerian colonial independence, anchoring its viewers in both French and Algerian settings.

Outside the Law is the tale of three Algerian brothers and their mother, set in the midst of the Algerian Revolution in 1950. The bloody rebellion against French colonial forces has chased the three brothers from their land, separating them from their mother. One brother, Abdelkader, leads the movement for Algerian independence from Paris. The next, Saïd, makes money in dingy Parisian boxing clubs. The third brother, Messaoud, is engaged fighting French forces in Indochina. Their diverse destinies are inextricably tied around the love they share for their mother.

The historical context of the film is secondary to the story of the family. According to Bouchareb, the movie is meant to be understood as a North African western. He emphasizes the artistic and cinematographic dimensions over the political statement, aspiring to the cinematic stylings of a Sergio Leone. Generally fast paced and clean cut, the director uses mainly Americanized techniques that stray from the stereotypical independent political movie.  

Political and historical controversy aside, however, Outside the Law is somewhat tacky. The film is very Manichean and the style it aspires to just doesn’t work in a North African context.

Jamel Debbouze, who plays Saïd, is famous for his one-man comedy skits in France, but is hardly credible as a heart-wrenching Algerian kid. Not completely involved in the revolution, Saïd is interested in business and boxing and serves as the family intellectual—which is somewhat difficult to believe. However, Roshdy Zem and Sami Bouajila (Abdelkader and Messaoud, respectively) more effectively portray characters with depth and dexterity.

Ultimately, the film takes a very critical stance toward French colonialism and portrays Frenchmen in Algeria much like the German Gestapo. This has provoked controversy among French conservatives who see the film as a distortion of history. However, at the press conference given at the Cannes film festival, the director and actors stressed that the focus should be on artistic performances rather than on the exact historical facts that may or may not relate to what happened in the heat of a revolution for independence.

While the director re-entered the debate about his cinematographic intentions, the film crew did not seem entirely dissatisfied with the controversy, as it gave Outside the Law some much-needed publicity going into summer movie season.