Outside The Law

Algeria's submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Academy Awards, "Hors-la-loi" takes place between 1945 and 1962 and focuses on the lives of three Algerian brothers in France, set in the backdrop of the Algerian independence movement and the Algerian War. It is a standalone follow-up to the same director Rachid Bouchareb's 2006 film "Days of Glory", which was set during World War II. We follow a family who are forced out of their home. Many years later, the Algerians demand their independence from France in a demonstration. Said, one of the three brothers who is more interested in boxing rather than politics, has a change of heart when his father is killed and his brother, Abdelkader is arrested. He then makes ends meet by running a bar and becoming a pimp, even though it is a shameful way to make money as thought by his mother. Messaoud, his brother returns from the French army and puts his training to use by joining Abdelkader in a rebel group against France.