"Of Gods and Men" - A retrospective

A moie review?  From ME? I see a move about once every three years, or less. But recent events – the earthquake in Morocco and its after-effects in the Atlas Mountains – recalled the movie “Of Gods and Men” that I saw a few years ago at the Charles Theatre in downtown Baltimore.

That film, like “Shane” and Red Shoes”, movies I saw as a very young child, had a strong impact on me, and I still ponder them upon occasion.  The French Trappist monks of Algeria moved to Morocco and the remote Atlas mountains simply to be neighbors to the (Muslim) natives, to demonstrate that such friendship was possible and worthwhile.  No effort was made to catechize or convert the Muslims; they were neighbors, making a modest way through life, helping out as needed, asking for others’ help as well.
Hostile government agents, at a time of deadly conflict in that area, showed up one evening to in essence kidnap the monks. They had been warned it could happen, had pondered their individual responses – “Stay?” “Return to safety in Algeria?” A powerful high point was beautifully understated, as the camera focused on each monk’s face as he announced his decision, leaving us to ponder what our decision would be in such a situation – and, by inference, what our reason is for being where and who we are at present.

If you occasionally ask yourself, “What’s a nice kid like me doing in a place like this?”, you could do worse than look for “Of Gods and Men” among movies stored on YouTube or elsewhere, or failing that, ask your local library to find “The Monks of Tibhirine”(the book upon which the movie is based) in the stacks.  It may be a grace in your life, as it certainly was in mine.