Outside The Law Themes

Hors la loi: A Fight for Algerian Independence

The film Outside the Law is about the French and Algerian war. The movie takes place in France and Algeria. The movie is about three brothers that are extremely influential in the movement for Algerian independence. Messaoud fought in the French-Indochina War and used his knowledge to help with the effort for Algerian independence. Abdelkader becomes a leader in the fight for independence from France. Saïd had a different relationship with his brothers but did eventually help with the independence effort, but it was mostly to protect his brothers. The main themes of the film surround ideas of family, fighting for what you believe is right, and identity within your culture.

There are many examples

The viewer sees very few interactions between the two before they get married, they smile at each other in 1 scene and barely have any conversation. There are a lot of traditional gender roles placed on Messaoud’s wife as she is expected to take care of their child. However, there is also a big emphasis on collectivist culture. There is an entire group of women, presumed to be a part of the family that are also taking care of the child while Messaoud is away from him for a very long time. There is even one scene where Messaoud remarks how large his son is, it can be assumed that he hasn’t seen him for over a year based on the appearance of the child. The collectivist culture is also seen during Messaoud’s weddings. It is a very big community event with dancing and cultural instruments involved. The film reflects very positively on the Algerian culture. All the cultural critiques are levied at the French. The Algerians are portrayed as victims of colonialism and discrimination that are going against the law for the younger

The Algerians were constantly discriminated against in the movie, they had a curfew, their houses were bombed, and the end of the movie portrayed a police riot against the Algerians. The languages spoken in this movie were French and Arabic. This film portrayed the mix of cultures that colonialism creates. The brothers often use Arabic when they are with family and French when they are outside the home. Many bilingual societies have some kind of history with colonialism especially when that language is French or English. In this film the mother, who represents the older generation exclusively uses Arabic. But, Saïd who has been pushed away from his family and culture uses more