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L'ennemi intime (2007) Plus avec IMDbPro »

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17 utilisateurs sur 22 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
The french Platoon, 3 octobre 2007

Auteur : Steve de Romanet de France

I have just seen L'ennemi intime, a film about a young lieutenant during the Algeria war in 1959. A few films have already been shot about that war (L'honneur d'un capitaine, La bataille d'Alger, etc.) but this one is the best. At least it will change the way films are made on this matter. The actors are good, the images beautiful, the action very well done. And the film show the atrocities from both side (and that's quite rare actually, usually in France you have the "bad French" against the "nice fellous"). This film has the quality of Platoon or Apocalypse now. I only give 8/10 because of the end, not perfect. But it's a must seen film.

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12 utilisateurs sur 17 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
Utterly outstanding, 22 février 2008

Auteur : ewan-59 de Royaume-Uni

I have just seen this film and was very impressed indeed.

Many have been very critical of this film stating the characters were hollow and the film itself was little more than another ain't war hell story. However there is a lot more to it than that.

The film, like 'Land and Freedom' gives a much needed insight into a very dirty war that has largely been forgotten.

From an accuracy perspective the equipment and weapons etc were spot on for the period. Contrast this to 'Tea with Mussolini' and 'Atonement' to name but a few. The film also shows many scenes of endlessly trudging through the mountains looking for an elusive enemy with no apparent end in sight. If you read Legionnaire by Simon Murray or Wayward Legionnaire by James William Worden you will quickly discover that that was exactly what the war in Algeria was like. Finally the film shows the FLN to be every bit as brutal as the French (which they were). This is a nice change from the usual blame it all on the white man theme.

Aside from material accuracy this film also brilliantly presents two very real dilemmas. The first was the French fighting against their former allies. (Many FLN members had fought with the French against the Germans in WW II. See 'Days of Glory'). The second is the highly relevant subject of torture. On the one hand its use is highly immoral and barbaric, but it is producing effective results.

Overall an outstanding film about a subject that needs to be told. Now how about an accurate film on the Korean War and the French war in Indo China.

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9 utilisateurs sur 12 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
BRILLIANT Film-making!, 18 mars 2008

Auteur : thetrapmovie de Etats-Unis

This film is nothing short of "brilliant." "L'ennemi Intime" is set in French-occupied Algeria in 1959 at the height of the insurgency. A French platoon is sent deep into enemy territory to find and liquidate the head of the insurgents called Slimane. Lieutenant Terrien, a novice and a humanist, is given charge of the platoon after its commander is accidentally killed by friendly fire. "L'ennemi Intime" is a little bit like "The Battle of Algiers" but set in the mountains of Kabylie (Berber territory in Algeria). I first saw it at the Dubai Film Festival in December 07 and was completely blown away by it. It is so gripping and visceral. The film is an incredible commentary on the inhumanity of war; how not matter how innocent and good one goes to war he is almost certain to become a beast and a murderer in the end. I highly recommend this film. Every soldier who is about to be deployed to a war zone should watch Ennemi Intime. Its simplest message is that war corrupts the human soul and there are no winners once the shooting stops.

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12 utilisateurs sur 18 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
Spectacular politics : brilliant !, 2 octobre 2007

Auteur : gilbert franco de France

Be prepared... Here comes what might be the most important french movie of the last few years. France has always been hiding its little political secrets and taboos, and although Americans have been multiplying projects about the Vietnam wars and the Watergate, France rarely make movies about politics. France hides itself behind the human rights. L'ENNEMI INTIME carries a heavy burden : to be the first major popular movie about the Algeria wars since THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS by Gillo Pontecorvo (1966). The objective is the same : the war still hides a huge taboo, and Siri (alongside Rotman, his writer) has tried to talk about it in a large way, avoiding caricatures and ideologies (upon which things wars usually define themselves). Lots of people in France are already accusing the movie of being spectacular. But all stories, important stories, once they've become an art form, have to drain mythology and great figures. In the way of Leone and Cimino, Siri draws archetypal soldiers torn apart between their nation, the facts, the day to day casualties of war and their own growing madness. L'ENNEMI INTIME is a true war movie, in the American tradition, as HELL IS FOR HEROES, MEN IN WAR or ATTACK. One mission turns nightmare. People redefine their own persona through this mission. The action, like in any war movie, is a political ritual that put human beings on trial with themselves. Siri uses the visual force of APOCALYPSE NOW and the brutality of PREDATOR (the scene with the falling trees) to build a mean, nervous, cruel vision, as dry as the movie is short and frontal (96 minutes). Spectacular means impact, shock, nervous attack. To wake up the minds and make them realize the importance of this war, the movie had to be spectacular. The FLN (arab liberation party) is cruel. French soldiers are cruel. Arabs torture Arabs tortured by french torturing themselves. This is war. A new brilliant motion picture by Florent Siri, making better movies each time.

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5 utilisateurs sur 7 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
amazing, gripping movie, 16 janvier 2009
Auteur : solaris1968 de Etats-Unis

An incredibly-filmed, gripping, and haunting movie about the horrors of guerrilla warfare, from the perspective of French troops in Algeria. The film is hypnotizing in its portrayal of the way in which violence and torture end up shattering these men's psyche and spirit.

The movie is also a good reminder of the hypocrisy of imperial powers. Many French fought the Nazi Germans when they invaded their country in the name of "freedom", but just 20 years later they were trying to crush the Algerian resistance for doing exactly the same thing: opposing a foreign, colonial occupation of their land. Yet the movie avoids simplistic dichotomies and, far from romanticizing the Algerian FLN, it crudely shows the atrocities committed by both sides. The landscapes in which the action takes place are mesmerizing in their crude, gripping, raw beauty.

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2 utilisateurs sur 2 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
Horror, the horror, 28 juillet 2009
Auteur : Light de France

Well, Some official critics wrote "the French Apocalypse Now". Well, it's much less, hum, metaphorical than apocalypse now. Not just because of the countryside aspect. Were no more in the damp swamps of Vietnam, but the dry lands of Mediterranean countries. Here is just the ugly truth. No black and white, grey, like the uniforms covered of dust. That's a great aspect of this movie. They just show ordinary men becoming Beast. Because it's war, because war is ugly, because this wasn't an ordinary war. It's deeply based on true facts, like this former Resistant using torture, despite having being tortured himself while a resistant. Or those two Algerian mates, who used to fight in the Monte Casino against the German... and then one of them kill the other, because they're in two different side, and one of them had his family killed by the other one's friends. And the fellagas using ugly means, because there's no other mean to free your country. I was more shaken by this movie than I was by any Vietnam movies. Because, well, maybe, Terrien, he could just have been me.

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3 utilisateurs sur 7 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
Just as Vietnam war movies, 13 avril 2008

Auteur : arsenick de Paris, France

"Intimate Enemies" could have been strong, provocative, with deep characters. One thing about the main character - a young french volunteer being chief of a platoon near forbidden areas- is that we never know the reasons why he volunteered in a war he dislikes. He is neither a professional soldier -like many who fought in Indochina and volunteered again in Algeria- nor a young called-up for duty. The character of the sergeant who tries to be human in an horrible world is deeper, but is not the main character and the movie is focused on the young one. However, the movie is not very original, but efficient, remembering clichés that are not false, and refreshing memories. I am also glad that French people begin to shoot standard movies about this war, not wonders but common films. It tries to make this subject more popular. The movie called "Mon colonel" was far better and deeper, but may be this one is more a blockbuster type: action, firing - love is missing- and moralizing movie.

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7 utilisateurs sur 16 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
A decent attempt..., 5 octobre 2007

Auteur : Scotchorama de Paris & NYC

L'Ennemi Intime is a good attempt at portraying the Algerian War and its complexities. It is undoubtedly a gritty movie, with grittier colors, and even grittier characters... I came feeling gritty myself, and uneasy, which means that in my case the film did have a certain impact. However, the story-that of an idealistic lieutenant facing the realities of war and his reaction-was, in my opinion, weak. Filmed mostly from the French soldiers' point of view, the film was too simplistic and predictable, and its characters are unidimensional and bland, and ultimately unconvincing. The only difference in this film is that it is about the Algerian War. Whereas it is not your average hero-triumphs war movie, it is your average innocent-discovers-horror war movie. It is not as deep and good as Chronique des Annees de Braise, and is miles from the provocatively brilliant, and highly-recommended Bataille d'Alger.

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5 utilisateurs sur 44 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
Missing in inaction, 8 octobre 2007

Auteur : vostf de Paris, Fr

L'Ennemi Intime is simply a non-movie. What does it take to dish out such an unidentifiable cinematographic object? Producer blindness, too proud to see the vacuum in the project, too proud to have it challenged by some trustworthy colleague.

L'Ennemi Intime first (digital) shot sets it all : it is not linked with the beginning of narration and the only purpose is to have the movie title pompously emerge from the horizon. Let's forget it. What's the story? A French platoon is stuck in the middle of The Undeclared War in Algeria. It's not really that they are stuck but there's a sensation they're alone to fight an (oh so) absurd war. Actually they are the French colonial power struggling against the ever elusive rebel forces who will fight to death for their freedom, for Algerian independence.

The subtext is clear if you know this part of History, yet the political aspect is buried under the makeshift of a script, I mean the episodic screenplay... well, let's say it more bluntly: the treatment in pictures.

Would you believe the storyline is only made of a series of missions that are loosely connected (fight the rebels round the corner)? What else? Nothing. The pitched opposition between the idealistically young Lieutenant and the experienced tough Sergeant is not an opposition, only an easy-going working relationship. Lieutenant Terrien (Magimel) is a bland character with no character arc whatsoever, Sergeant Dougnac (Dupontel) is basically more interesting but nothing interesting happens to him after the opening sequence before Terrien is brought in to helm the bunch.

Except for a couple of French-Algerian characters there's almost nobody to root for. The absence of story is all the more palpable as locations are great and the cinematography is excellent. In the end there's a gigantic gap between the graphical aspirations of the director and the inaction imposed over by the script.

Obviously the idea was to team up a promising director (Siri) who would deliver the images and a documentary screenwriter (Rotman) who would deliver the contents (historical and controversial yet accurate). The problem is Siri is light on screen-writing and only understands action while Rotman is overwhelmed by his historical knowledge and doesn't know how to write fiction (i.e. loosen the ties of historical accuracy to tell an engaging story featuring interesting fictional characters).

BOTTOM LINE. Cinematography and locations: excellent. All the rest is not worth watching.

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