On November 1, 1954, After 130 years of French presence,
the National Liberation Front (FLN) launched an insurgency in Algeria.
Faced with the FLN's resolve to negotiate independence,
France responded by sending in 500,000 young conscripts.
In 1959, despite UN criticism,
France stepped up military operations in Algeria.
INTIMATE ENEMIES
ALGERlA: July 1959. Somewhere in Kabylia...
Sparrowhawk, this is Chamois.
Do you read me?
Chamois, this is Sparrowhawk. Read you loud and clear.
We'll be at 18-35 in 10 minutes. Over.
Read you five-by-five, Sparrowhawk.
We'll cover you from behind at 17-35 in 30 minutes. Out.
Roger. Over and out.
Constantin wants a pincer movement here.
No good here, sergeant.
Fire!
Fuck! I'm hit.
It's nothing. Put this on and return to your position!
Sergeant!
Sparrowhawk, this is Chamois. We've engaged enemy at 18-25.
I repeat: Enemy at 18-25.
Watch out! They're falling back in your direction!
They're already here! They're hitting us with machine guns!
A wounded man!
Tillois's been hit!
Cease fire! It's Dougnac.
Cease fire. They're ours!
Cease fire!
It's Dougnac. They're ours.
They're ours!
Why the fuck aren't you at 17-35?
Lt. Constantin positioned us. Major's orders.
He's way off. Where's the moron?
Up there.
Constantin!
Shit!
Mazel Outpost.
Attention!
Present arms!
Lt. Constantin,
in the name of the President
and by virtue of the powers vested in me,
I name you knight in the Legion of Honor.
We award you the Cross of Military Valor.
You volunteered.
Congratulations.
You could've had a desk job in Algiers.
- What do you do in civilian life? - Industrial designer.
For a first assignment,
you're starting off in a tough situation.
You're replacing a dead man.
What rotten luck Constantin had.
It was his last mission.
He was supposed to go home today.
You have the remotest sector.
A unit of 100 fellaghas is giving us a hard time there.
It's led by an ex-WWII sergeant in De Lattre's army. Name's Slimane.
He's hiding somewhere in these mountains.
You're to track him down.
Locate his unit so we can destroy it.
How'd they ambush Constantin?
His time had come, that's all.
Get yourself cleaned up, lieutenant.
Sgt. Dougnac will take you to your quarters.
I'm returning to CP.
Tomorrow you yomp to Taïda.
Fellaghas were sighted there last night.
Yes, sir.
Mission to Taïda. Edge of Forbidden Zone.
Down there...
With the boy, by the sheep.
That's Zarah, my cousin. Next to her is Amar,
her son.
- That your village? - Taïda...
We control it by day,
the fellaghas control it by night.
A collector comes for the revolutionary tax every 2 weeks.
They pay it?
If they don't...
See that old man
sitting on the rock?
He's the lookout.
The fellaghas cut off his nose and lips for smoking.
Smoking is forbidden.
So you see, sir, everyone pays.
They have no choice.
Chief! Chief!
So, Meziane...
Nothing to report?
They came last night.
They took the food... bread, beans, everything.
You're too generous.
- They didn't take guns? - Guns, here? No, chief.
No bullshit. I know the fellaghas have a stash here.
Question everyone. Search all the houses!
Lefranc, Lacroix at 10 o'clock. Maheu, Zunino at 12 o'clock.
No one knows anything here.
Fuck off!
So, cousin,
has Slimane been here?
- Where are the guns? - We saw nothing.
Amar, was your brother with Slimane?
He didn't see anything.
I'm talking to your son.
My brother... he'll kill you.
That's enough!
He's bullshitting us, sir.
Not my son. Leave him alone.
He's not hurting anyone. He didn't see anything.
Sir!
Tell them, Rashid.
The boy was away. His brother's a fellagha.
He must've seen him.
Bring him. I'll make him talk.
Leave him to me.
No, a boy stays with his mother.
Fall in. We're moving out.
Move out!
We'll be back, Meziane.
Next time, tell the truth. Or you know what'll happen...
- 40 on Rougier. - I bet 20.
Shit!
- Give me a light? - Hold on.
Watch this.
Give it to her in the tits!
Bull's eye!
So who's the ace of spades? Yours truly.
Attention!
Skip it.
No saluting in the canteen.
Carry on, gentlemen.
Got any lemonade?
This isn't kindergarten, sir. But let me check.
You know: "A non-drinking officer is no soldier"?
In that case... Drinks all around.
The lieutenant's buying.
Let's hear it for the lieutenant...
You shouldn't wear your bars.
Gold draws lead out there.
I propose a toast to Lt. Constantin.
To Lt. Constantin!
Second mission to Taïda.
Wait, wait.
Forward. Single file.
This way's longer but no one'll see us coming.
You sure of your information?
Tell the lieutenant what your cousin told you.
She said the collector comes today.
Go check things out. Take Lounès.
Rashid's a good soldier.
Like all ex-fellaghas, he knows the terrain.
He rallied to our side?
We rallied him.
- And you trust him? - Don't worry.
He's in up to his eyeballs.
We missed the collector. Everyone's gone.
The village looks empty.
Rashid...
It happened last night.
The fellaghas must have expected us.
It's not random savagery.
They wanted to make an example for the other villages. Understand?
You'll be okay.
It's over. It's over.
You'll be fine.
Attention!
At ease.
Men...
It's hard for me...
I can't find the words to...
What the lieutenant means...
is that what you saw at Taïda...
you must never forget.
Fall out.
Mission in the Forbidden Zone.
Sir...
At 12 o'clock.
Lefranc...
Radio contact with Chamois!
Chamois, this is Authority.
Authority, this is Chamois.
Don't shoot. They're women.
Negative.
In the Zone, orders are : if it moves, shoot it.
You don't fire on unarmed women...
Goddammit, Dougnac!
I gave you an order! What got into you?
Women here go barefoot.
You couldn't know.
Nice work, sergeant.
Fall in. We continue the mission. Objective: Meshta Rehki.
Why are you in the Forbidden Zone?
Where's Slimane?
What'd he say?
- That he saw no one. - He's lying.
He's a fellagha. We fought together.
Me not fellagha.
Long live De Gaulle!
You lying bastard fellagha!
None of that with me.
You heard the lieutenant!
Search the area!
- Maheu, first aid kit! - Yes, sir.
Inform CP we have a prisoner.
Got my cigarettes?
And the bubbly?
'Evening, sir.
Major Vesoul sent me for the prisoner.
Fine. He got hit on the head.
- Have a medic examine him. - We'll handle him.
Thank you.
Have a good evening.
You're really drunk, sergeant.
I'll take you back.
Who's the ace of spades?
Yours truly.
Go on, cut the deck!
You'll see what I cut.
Lacroix, come here!
"Darling, all's well here.
"The people are friendly.
"Our presence reassures them."
Where's Slimane?
He was gonna talk, sir.
Get the fuck out of my sector.
Got that?
You bring my coffee now?
- Your son draw those? - Yes.
He's six years old.
Thanks for everything, lieutenant.
It'll be all right.
We'll take care of you.
Hey, Lacroix...
Lefranc!
Wanna swap?
Hard to find meat in that muck, isn't it, sir?
Sayeed!
Your sardines good?
Sardines are Muslim rations.
I'm a convert.
Smile, sir. A souvenir for when I get out of this shithole.
Leave him alone. Film Sayeed's scar instead.
Show the lieutenant your scar.
Monte Cassino. May 18, 1943.
Let's see it.
It took the Allies four assaults to take Monte Cassino.
The Yanks, Brits, Kiwis and Poles failed.
Not the Free French.
We fought the German commandos hand-to-hand. A bloodbath.
Thanks to guys like Sayeed the Rome road was opened.
Major Berne said: "My greatest pride...
"...was to command such men."
A helluva battle, Monte Cassino.
- You were lucky to come out alive. - Yes, sir.
A bayonet cut, 74 stitches and a medal!
Fuck death, right, Sayeed?
- You're a real warrior. - Yes, a good soldier.
So good the fellaghas wanted to force me to join them.
They butchered my wife...
and three children.
Got family back in France?
Not really.
A wife in Indochina for two years.
I send her money once in a while. And you?
A wife and a little boy.
You must miss them.
You should go home to them.
Every morning, he'd write his girl,
starting his letter with:
"I'm writing in the flow of racing bullets."
- "The flow of racing bullets"? - Yep. Racing bullets!
- "Glow" of "tracer" bullets, dope! - Right...
Sarge, hold my gun and give me a pen.
You shoot, I write.
Move it, dummy.
Attention!
Fall them out.
Fall out.
To your tents. Don't just stand there.
Your prisoner talked, lieutenant. He just confessed.
We'll nab Slimane.
We know which day he comes.
We'll mount an operation.
Come with me, Terrien.
I'd like you to meet Capt. Berthaut, intelligence.
At ease.
I'll let you two get acquainted.
How goes it with good old Dougnac?
You know we fought in Indochina together?
A drink, lieutenant?
You should. It's refreshing.
I hear you've been having qualms?
I made your prisoner come clean.
I don't like it either.
But I obey orders.
If an order is morally unacceptable, you should refuse it, sir.
And this...
is it morally acceptable?
I'll spare you these, so you don't puke.
Bodies of mutilated Frenchmen.
Throats cut, their balls in their mouth.
When I have doubts, I take a look.
The FLN may use vile methods, but yours are no better, sir.
It's like Indochina. This is no conventional war.
This is psychological warfare.
The FLN is a minority.
It's undermining the country. It must be eliminated.
Can we speak openly?
Go ahead.
You think it's normal
to grant independence to Tunisia and Morocco
but not Algeria? - There's no comparison.
Algeria is France.
If Algeria is France,
we should start by giving everyone equal rights.
Treat the Algerians like French citizens,
not like colonial subjects.
If you think about it, the FLN has reason to fight.
Someday, we'll have to negotiate.
You can't fight barbarism with barbarism, sir.
This may come as a surprise.
15 years ago, I was in the French Underground.
I set up ambushes.
I was arrested and tortured by the Gestapo. Somehow I survived.
But I Iost these.
I spit out my real teeth in the bathtub.
You just got here.
You'll see. You'll come around.
Like we all have.
I doubt it.
Operation Slimane at Meshta Rehki.
Don't leave my side.
Sun, this is Rock. Nothing to report.
Roger. Remain in place. Out.
I hope the old man didn't lie.
At 110 volts, the truth always comes out.
They'll come at nightfall.
That's what I'd do.
What the hell...
Shit!
Where the fuck are they?
Théron, PRC6!
Sun, this is Rock.
Enemy 100 meters Above!
They're hitting us with MG-42s.
Roger.
Go after them.
They need help.
I wouldn't.
The lieutenant can handle it.
Dougnac's covering us.
Get ready.
Platoon, forward!
Go! Go! Go!
Rougier!
Allah is great...
and Muhammad is his prophet.
Go get 'em, Dougnac.
Like in Indochina.
He was the scout.
The rest are up there.
They were here before us.
Someone tipped them off.
Tell the major to move it.
This is Rock...
We're pinned down!
Take them from behind at 18-35.
I repeat: request support!
He's right. We have to do it now!
Requesting Channel 16. Sending in the special drums.
- But, major... - Negative.
Would you rather lose the company?
Not the drums!
Not the drums, sir.
Don't move. Air support in 2 minutes.
- Read me, Rock? - Roger.
Kerchiefs!
Kerchiefs, everyone!
Kerchief, Lefranc.
Your kerchief, lieutenant.
Mission accomplished. Request permission to return to base.
Well done. You can go home. Out.
Rock, this is Sun.
Go check it out.
Allah is great and Muhammad is his prophet.
For the ace of spades.
And for Rougier.
For Delmas.
They're sending the bodies home tomorrow.
I have to write the families.
I thought napalm was only in the event of war.
What do you mean, war? Officially we're maintaining order.
Same with the napalm. See any napalm? Just "special drums".
A goddamn beer, Amar!
A beer!
I bet he was the rat.
For me, too. Don't fuck with me!
You're paranoid.
Mission in Forbidden Zone.
No fellaghas tonight, sergeant.
You're right.
They won't come now.
We'll rest here, then head back.
Platoon!
Sir,
come see something.
Beautiful, isn't it?
It's a hideout.
I used to come here when I was little.
With your brother.
Here...
For you.
Take it.
Vigier and Attia, this way!
Search the perimeter. Every bush. Every rock!
Lefranc at 12 o'clock with four men. Go, go, go!
What's the problem?
Rashid's gone.
Lacroix, your machine gun up there!
Fucking traitor Rashid.
Deploy on the crest.
Major Vesoul wants us to report to him on Rashid's disappearance.
I can't believe he went back over to the fellaghas.
For now, he's just missing.
"In the end, the strength of the innocent is broken
"Had I known the outcome of accursed fate
"I would have attacked first
"For they will cut my throat
"Or banish me from this land."
It's a Kabyle poem.
In French it means...
It means, "Get the hell out, Frenchmen.
"Or we'll kill every last one of you."
For the fellaghas, the French in Algeria
are like the Germans for you during the war.
They think they're like the French freedom fighters.
What about you?
Me, chief, I'm a soldier.
I fought the Germans with the French.
Now I fight the FLN with the French.
That's how it is.
And Rashid?
Rashid is a good soldier.
And he's become my friend.
But I'd shoot him on the spot if he were a traitor.
Track to company CP.
Poor Rashid.
He no longer knew whose side he was on.
Hello, Dougnac.
Berthaut.
I brought you a gift, Terrien.
No use to us at CP.
Take him out somewhere.
- Like a walk in the woods. - Negative.
Get rid of him. Orders.
I refuse to obey.
You're starting to piss me off.
Do as you're told.
And if I don't, sir?
Very well.
I'll report you.
Maheu, Zunino!
Mail's here!
It's the mail!
So, Berthaut?
- Still on a lucky streak? - Still.
I'll handle the prisoner. Lay off Terrien.