Outside The Law
Rachid Bouchareb's latest film Outside The Law, which is out to own on DVD this week, charts the Algerian struggle for independence as seen through the eyes of a family of three brothers, played by Jamel Debbouze, Roschdy Zem and Sami Bouajila.
The action starts in Algeria, depicting the real-life massacre at Sétif then tracking the paths of the brothers - to jail, to war and to pimping in France - before they join together again to fight for their country's freedom. The Oscar-nominated film is not the first time that the director has drawn on factual events as the basis of a story, with London River taking being set during the aftermath of the London 7/7 terrorist attacks and his earlier Days Of Glory exploring the importance of North African troops in the liberation of France during the Second World War.
"It's important for cinema to engage with history," says Bouchareb. "Outside The Law deals with the Algerian War and relates events that are little-known in France - the fiction is built around historical fact. Fiction also allows you to avoid having the documentary aspect dominate the development of the screenplay."
By eschewing documentary in favour of a story that is as much about family as it is about politics, Bouchareb builds a gripping picture of the changing reality for many Algerians who migrated to France, many of whom went on to join the FLN (the National Liberation Front, an underground movement which aimed to fight for independence).
"A revolution is made by ordinary people," says the French director. "So you take a family of brothers and see watch them debating, confronting each other and tearing each other apart in the face of the choices that are going to change their lives.
"The majority of people are not revolutionaries. Each individual has his own vision of freedom and how to achieve it, by political or other means. There are divergent and radically different centres of interest between the brothers."
The 58-year-old has his own living memories of the time period, as his family, who were originally from Algeria, "militated for Algerian independence". He was also familiar with the Nanterre shantytown as a child, which he describes as "part of my personal history".
The next film on the director's agenda is something of a departure from his previous work and will mark the first time he has shot a film in the US. Just Like A Woman is "A road movie set between Chicago and New Mexico".
The film is set to star Sienna Miller and Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani (About Elly, Body Of Lies) as women who go on a journey of self-discovery after their marriages fail. It may be a more conventional setting than his previous films but it still has rebellion at its heart.
Bouchareb says: "The film deals with female preoccupations but still with a desire for freedom - a women's revolution."
Outside The Law is out to own on DVD from Studiocanal now.
