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Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Simply A Masterpiece

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

It was movie that touched a string and left my mind empty of thoughts. Those views of the Algerien desert were magnificent. They pointed out something that we seem to forget again again: we are so small in the background of nature. I've often read in books about how the immensity of the desert humbles human beings but I never understood what it meant. Living in a place like that seems to have made the school teacher realize how precious is life and how small is the importance of human squabbles. Quiet... That seems to be the predominant sound of the movie. Or more likely peace, a peace that Daru attempts to keep by turning a blind eye to the chaos that seems to start brewing around him. However, eventually he can not bring himself to sacrifice his values in order to keep his peaceful life. The movie also shows the incipient stages of what we today call terrorism. Daru's perspective is very interesting. As a child who is born by Spanish parents in an Arabic country and who is also a French citizen he belongs to three nations and to none in the same time. Thus he has insight on all three cultures from a rather impartial perspective. He is not touched by excessive nationalism and can see analyze their cultures from a wider point of view. We can see in this movie what could be called the calm before the storm. The inhabitants of the Arabic world are starting what they call a "revolution". From their point of view their actions represent their path to freedom, liberation from the oppression of foreign tyranny. We are used to see the terrorists as villains but perhaps they are victims just as match as we are.

Far from Men is relevant to today's political and social situation. Set in a country torn apart by original inhabitants rebelling against invading forces -- and caught in the middle, the ordinary people trying to get on with their lives. Sound familiar? My friend and I could not speak when the film ended, it made such an impact on us. The performances by Kateb and Mortensen are so believable that the audience is swept up into their world rather than watching them act. Set in the stark desert of Algiers, the characters'futile scramble to some safe place is gripping and all-encompassing. One of those films whose scenes haunt you days and months after. Highly recommended: I would see it again.

Daru (Viggo Mortensen)is a second-generation Spanish-Algerian, teaching Arab children in a remote school during Algeria's struggle for independence. He is viewed as a Frenchman by the Arabs, and as an Arab by the French. He gets saddled with the task of taking Mohamed (Reda Kateb), a common, that is non-political, criminal to the authorities in Tinguit. The pair encounter Algerian freedom fighters, French soldiers, Arab tribesmen, stunning landscapes and more along the way. At each turn, Daru's values, culture, position and assumptions are thrown into question, and his bond with Mohamed deepens. Yet at all points this remains a movie with a compelling storyline and beautiful cinematography. There is never a hint of heavy-handed social commentary or political soap-boxing. As a thriller/adventure, or character drama, it would be excellent. But through Daru and Mohamed's developing relationship, the social and political fabric of Algeria is explored at the same time, with exquisite but down-to-earth sensitivity, from the points of view of two ordinary, honest, and in their different ways fundamentally good men.

The movie is timeless, with a great story, breathtaking landscapes and Viggo Mortensen - as always - excellent, and he speaks at least three foreign languages in this French movie. A must seen movie and the best one I have seen all this year 2015. You have in this feature the sad and beautiful story of a short and poignant friendship during war in Algeria. Two very different men who will have to fit together, against all odds. I think Viggo Mortensen does well to play in 'little movies',his acting is getting better and better as he is getting older.I saw the movie with only 15 people in a little cinema. What a shame that big cinema buildings don't show this one. But I don't mind, then all the people are at least interested! Everybody should go to the cinema to see this excellent drama!!!