What are you doing here?
Beat it!
Go!
Charles. Charles.
Come this way.
It's not polite
to peek into people's homes.
July 1911
Charles!
Charles.
Dad's waiting for us.
Mom would be proud.
It's ours now.
Not just yet.
Tired already?
Dad, I've done some thinking.
Your "tropical" farming...
- Electrical!
- Right, electrical.
You'll spend all your money
and go into debt
for a risky venture.
Risky?
Yes, risky.
Nonsense.
It's the future, I'm telling you.
Stop it, Dad!
I want Lucien to graduate
from the military academy.
And the house's
not fully paid for yet.
It will be our house.
End your contract in Madagascar
and come back.
Charles, you're a pain.
I'm not ready to retire.
Am I stopping you from going
to the freaking Sahara?
Go bury your career in the sand!
You're free!
You tell me that?
After ending my studies to put me
in stupid military schools?
If you two keep arguing,
I'll take the next train back!
We hardly spend any time
together.
When are you going?
I'm sailing out from Marseille
in three days.
You're just like me.
You need space.
Ahmed! The pivots!
Easy, easy!
Keep in line!
Look to the left!
Boot to boot, damn it!
Sorry I kept you waiting.
My respects, Mr. Minister.
So, your Bedouins are rebelling?
What's the word again?
Dissidence?
- I'm leaving this morning.
- I know.
That's why the President
requested my presence.
The President?
He's interested in nomads now.
Maybe the Republic has finally realized
my Bedouins are also hers...
The Republic has been good to you.
The Sahara is all yours.
Your powers are limitless.
You can't complain because the Republic
has given you carte blanche.
Come this way.
You'll do our President a favor
for a lady cousin of his.
Beware, Saganne.
Her father is a De Saint-Ilette.
Her mother's a cousin
of the President's.
She's stupid but also cruel.
You're scaring them, Saganne.
But you have nothing to lose.
They won't accept you
unless you die for them.
Then they make you a hero.
They allowed you to be an officer,
you, with your big paws.
Ever wondered why, peasant boy?
- Only to use you.
- Let them use me!
I don't care about their daughter.
I don't care about anything.
I've been buried
in this hole for six months.
I see..."The call of the Sahara"
and all that...
Speaking of which,
"His majesty" Dubreuilh
- is coming for a visit.
- Colonel Dubreuilh?
- I thought he was in France.
- He's rushing back.
The once friendly tribes have fled.
Things are heating up.
- When is he coming?
- Next Wednesday.
We're in for a big barbecue
at the chief's
with everyone all dressed up!
Let me show him
my men and my horses.
I want him
to take me with him.
You're some guy.
When I see you like this...
I almost want to live.
Saber in hand!
Forward!
In a single line!
So that's him?
Sabers...
down!
The French girl!
Get off this horse.
- Let me be.
- Madeleine, get off the horse.
Are you happy now?
Let go of my daughter!
Fine specimens.
If they have kids, keep one for me.
Colonel, a family's fate
is in your hands.
Father, humanity's fate
is in God's hands. Excuse me.
Keep spreading God's word.
The world needs it.
Lieutenant Saganne, Sir!
Lieutenant,
I dislike masquerades.
The army is not a circus.
It's time you learned
and I mean to teach you.
You're leaving
tomorrow at 5:00 a.m.
I'm taking you with me,
south to Hodh.
That'll be it.
Dismiss.
I made this for you.
I don't want to eat.
I don't want to sleep.
He'll be back.
I don't want to live
without him.
He'll be back.
"Dear Lucien,
did you get
my money order?
It takes work
to climb the ranks.
Study hard!
Graduate as a warrant officer
and then only will you be able
to relax if you want to.
We're heading south,
with half the Sahara to cover!
Things are bad there.
Mekalla, our former ally,
fled with his tribes.
What's worse, beyond the border
is another powerful chief:
Sultan Omar.
Sultan Omar has one objective:
holy war against France.
Dubreuilh is a model leader,
even though I haven't seen him
in three weeks.
He keeps sending me
on missions...
reconnaissance,
provision, training.
He saves the chores for me.
He's testing me,
but he won't break my spirit.
I enjoy the long,
Ionely treks with Embarek.
I'm discovering the desert.
Here, everything stands still.
We'll make sure
to put things in motion..."
The Colonel's going too fast!
In three days,
the camels will drop dead.
He won't slow down.
He's in a hurry.
Here's our master
of ceremonies... with orders.
The Colonel said to be
ready for dinner at 7:00 p.m.
That goes for you too.
Isn't that grand? It's like a walk
in his castle's gardens.
I heard you were working
on a book on Muslim sects.
- You find that odd, don't you?
- Why would I?
Because I'm Jewish!
A Jew interested in Islam!
- Didn't you know?
- I'd never thought of it.
Why did Emir Mekalla's
tribe desert?
Wattignie, the man
in command there, is no good.
Dubreuilh and Mekalla
are good men.
I was their interpreter.
They're like two medieval lords,
lost in their dreams.
With the nomads,
we need to make allies
of the noble tribes.
- Allow me to say...
- One moment.
Calon-Sgur, 1904.
Will that do?
Please, continue,
Mr. Hazan.
Nobles don't work,
they plunder.
They live by raising
oases and caravans.
Our mission to end insecurity
will threaten their livelihood.
For the nobles,
law and order means starvation.
This is all fascinating.
Listening to you, one wonders
what France is doing here...
Mr. Hazan.
What's Lieutenant
Saganne's opinion?
Our Lieutenant's peasant stock
is keeping him from having an opinion.
Unlike you.
Gentlemen...
I have work to do.
Have a good night.
You must think
all we do is criticize.
Are you anti-Semitic,
Mr. Saganne?
What's going on?
Lieutenant, he's my brother.
He wants to desert.
He says we're worn out.
He says we're going too fast.
So I cut his leg a little to calm him
down, so he won't lose his pay.
Put a tourniquet on his leg.
I'll talk to the Colonel.
The Colonel's working!
He won't see anybody.
He won't be disturbed!
I'm not sleeping!
What are you doing here? Out!
Lieutenant!
We're going too slow.
Starting tomorrow,
we'll cover 40 miles a day.
Instruct your men.
Scurvy.
He'll die today.
Only God abides
in His house forever.
Many of us are dying
now, everywhere.
We were here.
He didn't die alone.
Our men are far now.
You're wearing yourself out.
Colonel?
We'll soon arrive
at Wattignie's fort.
Try to look presentable!
Hurry, hurry.
The welcome committee!
It's nothing!
Don't let them scare you!
They're not nobles.
Just a small vassal tribe.
Present arms!
Meet the biggest jackass
in the Sahara!
Major Wattignie!
Saganne, get that fool
out of here!
Sergeant Vulpi, that's me!
demoted twice,
and I'm not ashamed to say so!
Sorry, sir.
Dubreuilh's here,
so no more crap!
- Wattignie's out!
- Enough!
Go back to church,
choir boy!
Fuck Wattignie!
That's right!
Those desert nomads
are warriors!
Wattignie made them
break rocks and plant beans.
He made the desert lords
do chores and pay fines!
So they scrammed
and now we're in deep shit!
- Vulpi, I command you to be quiet!
- Who will go after them?
- You, with Holy Water?
- Vulpi!
I know, I'm good
for the slammer.
In the meantime,
let's go for a beer.
A chance to drink
with a fellow soldier's son.
- Isn't your dad a non-com?
- That's right.
It's called the bush telegraph...
you do something off up North,
the next day,
the whole Sahara knows about it!
Good job, Wattignie!
Have you ever looked
at this map?
Right here
behind the border lines,
Sultan Omar is waiting
on an opportunity to attack us.
Why do you think Mekalla
and all the tribes have left?
- To go pick strawberries?
- They wouldn't obey me.
Why do you think
we have a goddamn map?!
Mekalla broke his alliance
with me for Sultan Omar.
Now we're trapped
and forced out of the whole area!
It's so simple, Wattignie.
Even for you!
I told you to leave them alone.
- They're robbers.
- Shut up!
You just don't understand them.
I want you out of here.
You'll go back North.
I'll go find Mekalla.
And I'll drag him back here.
Geindroz, do you have
any camels?
- Ours are too tired.
- They're grazing at Jhallaouia.
- It hasn't rained and so...
- Saganne, go get them.
You'll rest on your way back.
You do enjoy long treks.
And that ghost town
is worth a sweat.
Gentlemen.
Take Vulpi with you.
He'll give you a hand.
We'll demote him
when he returns.
It's his third time,
so there's no hurry.
At least, he knows the Sahara.
I'll be right back.
- Everything okay, sir?
- Leave me alone!
The camels you took are mine.
- Who are you?
- The camels are mine.
- They belong to the Tit.
- And the Tit belongs to me.
But not the shepherd.
Everything is mine...
the camels,
the shepherds, the sky!
This is mine.
I'm giving it to you.
Take it.
I have 40 camels.
I'll give you 10.
- 20.
- 15.
- 17.
- 15, and that's it.
You're just like us,
Lieutenant Saganne.
- So you know my name?
- I'm Amajar.
Amajar...
chief of the Nemas,
married to Mekalla's daughter.
For a newcomer,
you know a lot.
Be careful, Saganne.
You're ill.
Geindroz!
Go check if he brought
the camels with him.
I'm from Arige too!
I'll take care of you.
Don't you touch me!
You're just exhausted.
Leave me alone.
I was wrong.
I can't do this.
It's too much.
Dubreuilh's right.
I like the protocol,
the uniform...
but not here.
Not here. I'm too tired.
- I'm tired.
- It's typical.
- You're bushed.
- Get the hell out!
- I don't need a nun!
- I'm a doctor.
Get the hell out!
All right, work it out alone.
He needs quinine
and lots of water.
"My dear Lucien,
we go through this country like a sword
through the fire... a real forge.
How can one endure it?
Willpower and courage are not enough.
Neither is endurance.
Simplicity is key here."
Keep playing.
Her name's Demla.
Tempted?
I didn't come here
to abuse children.
- Why did you come here?
- How about you?
Me? Like everyone else,
I wanted to get away.
But I have a goal in life.
I want to be the only camel-riding
cellist on earth!
Be careful, Saganne.
Beware of their bullshit...
"the mystical desert,
the effort to surpass oneself,
France's duty to civilize..."
Lieutenant,
we're leaving in the morning.
The Colonel's waiting for us
at Mekalla's camp.
Attention!
These are my boys,
Csar and Marius.
Emir Mekalla is the one in the middle,
next to the Colonel.
They've been talking
for three days.
Mekalla agrees to join us again,
but a couple of tribe leaders
are against it...
young men who won't listen.
You're not ill anymore.
Let's have some tea.
Saganne!
Wait for me.
Is your fever gone?
Are you back on the saddle?
Everybody goes through that,
you know? I did.
So you've befriended that mule...
It's a good thing.
He's been a pain in the ass
for three days now.
You have to change his mind.
He's got to make a decision:
either he's with Mekalla and all of us,
or he's with Sultan Omar, against us.
- Sir...
- I'm counting on you.
Dear Madeleine,
I'm writing to you
from the Great South.
This letter may take months
before it gets to you.
Are you writing to your wife?
She's not my wife.
Get married and
have lots of children.
That's good.
Why have they sent you here?
France has water.
Here, you have to know
how to find it.
And you don't.
What did you do?
Did you kill your brother or something?
- No, I wanted to be here.
- What do you want?
What's your goal?
The Colonel knows
what he wants.
- How about you?
- I am with myself.
If Mekalla goes my way,
I'll go with him.
If not, I'll go my own way.
With the French...
it works like this.
But here...
it works like this.
I did it, Saganne!
I'm the first to do it!
Sir!
Sir! Amajar has left!
With all his Nemas!
Yesterday, people said
that Amajar had a mind of his own.
Dubreuilh shouldn't have
rushed things.
Last night, he told Mekalla
you'd talked Amajar
into joining us.
No one asked him to give in.
But I won't tolerate...
and neither will
my friend Mekalla...
tribe leaders sneaking off
in the middle of the night!
It's an insult to our authority.
On the other side of the border,
Sultan Omar is waiting
for an opportunity to attack us.
I'm counting on you.
Saganne,
bring him back.
"Dear Lucien,
we've been marching for 17 days
through a real desert,
and I'm my own master at last!
I'm after Amajar and his Nemas.
Who knows what Amajar will do?
Will he join the enemy?
One thing is certain,
if I don't find him quick,
we may lose other tribes too.
That would be chaos.
So every day counts.
We've reached the Erg Chech.
No European has ever entered it.
"We walk in God's trust,"
as the Arabs say.
We've lost all trace of them.
Very little water left.
If we keep going,
we may not find any.
You decide.
Let's keep going!
Still praying, Geindroz?
I'm not praying.
I can't anymore.
Sorry, Geindroz.
I can't help you with that.
Sir!
Geindroz has stopped!
He won't go on.
Sir?
Come on, Geindroz.
Don't be stupid. Get up.
Geindroz!
Come on!
I promise we'll find
a well before tonight.
You don't know
where to find one.
You don't know a thing!
You know nothing!
We're all going to die
because of you.
What for? So you can show
Dubreuilh you're a leader?
He doesn't give a shit about you!
He never has.
You know
why he took you along?
Orders from Paris! To get you
away from the De Saint-Ilette girl.
Everyone knows but you!
Sir!
Sir!
Hurry!
They've found tracks!
They're not Nemas.
They're Berabers.
They're bringing back prisoners.
They attacked a village
of Ouled Cheikh.
Attack them, sir.
They have booty, and women!
If you go near them,
they'll shoot.
They have water.
We don't.
- Ever seen combat?
- No.
Me neither.
Fire!
Fire!
Fire!
We got them!
We got them!
Embarek,
go check on Messaoud.
I think they killed him.
Sound assembly.
We can't go on.
They walked a long way.
Their country is far away.
Down that way,
there's a river and animals.
There are tall trees,
but no palm trees.
I've never been that way.
With them along,
you'll never catch up to Amajar.
Sir! Sir!
Sir, we saw some carabineers
and their captain.
Halt!
Lieutenant Saganne.
Captain Baculard, District 3,
North Sudan!
You're a godsend, Captain.
I was after the Nemas,
but I came across some Berabers.
I was wondering what I'd do
with those women and children.
- I assume you know where you are.
- I honestly can't say for sure.
You are in French West Africa...
on my territory!
Those people are mine.
I've been after them for days.
The booty's yours, then.
That includes
the camels and riffles...
and those people
who need to go home.
I don't give a shit
about those niggers.
- I'm afraid I'm on a mission.
- Are you kidding me?
You won't enter my district!
Only I have the authority
to negotiate with the Nemas.
Again, I'm asking you
to take those people home.
I have no orders to receive
from a little shit like you!
Shut the fuck up
and get the hell out of here!
Then I'll take them home.
Lieutenant Geindroz.
We're going to the Senegal River!
You asshole!
Moving forward!
Turn around, Saganne!
This is an order!
Stop or I'll open fire.
Halt!
Let me go, sir.
Ready, aim!
You want to open fire? Do it yourself
and shoot a French officer.
Moving forward!
Hit me, Captain.
Hit me!
Moving forward!
"You wouldn't believe it,
little brother!
I can barely believe it myself.
What a trek...
from the Mediterranean
all the way to Senegal...
a whole continent!
The children are now
in an orphanage run by nuns.
Will they ever see
their families again?
And who will take
those abused women back?
No father, no husband will.
One man refused to leave us.
He's grown attached
to my second lieutenant...
a new recruit for France."
If you want them to leave him alone,
just tell them he's yours.
Have I shocked you?
You have.
Stop torturing yourself, Geindroz.
At least you've found
what you were looking for.
"Dear father,
Here, I am a liberator.
Here, I'm important.
I wish you could be with me.
Here, people are judged
by their actions, not by their origins.
Now, I have to find Amajar.
If I complete my mission,
I'll be entitled to ask Dubreuilh
whether or not he got orders
to take me away
from the De Saint-Ilettes."
There's your Nemas.
You were right.
Captain Baculard is insane.
Amajar.
Who sewed you up?
He did.
But with his leg,
he's done for.
Sir, can you imagine
what it will be like?
I can't.
Have you ever done
that before?
I haven't, especially not
with a tool kit!
He sewed himself up.
We can't just let him die.
I need the needle!
He's bleeding.
All right, let's do it.
Hold him still,
goddamn it!
- He's dead.
- We'll see. Let's finish this.
The plate!
Embarek, bandage him up.
He's breathing.
- How's Amajar?
- He slept a lot. As did you.
I know you were ambushed.
It was no battle.
You got slaughtered.
You will walk and ride again.
Madeleine?
I can't play.
I'm hurt.
So, Saganne...
what's the news
on the Senegal River?
Please accept
my resignation, sir.
Now for the facts...
The report from French West Africa
accuses you
of "insubordination,
threatening a superior," etc.
It goes on for three pages.
The War Ministry is
requesting an inquiry.
We have another report
for the General Governor,
and last but not least,
the Health Services
are requesting
that you be punished
for illegal practice of medicine.
- Some record.
- Sir, I want to leave the army.
Why is that?
Captain Baculard slaughtered
men under my protection.
Nonsense!
There was an altercation,
and you weren't even there!
That was no simple incident.
That was a deliberate massacre
in retaliation against me!
So what?
These tribes were getting away.
Now, they got so scared,
they're back with us.
Isn't that what we wanted?
So I should have left those women
and children to die,
and killed the Nemas myself?
- Of course not.
- Of course, yes!
Let's be logical to the end.
That's why I'm resigning.
If you quit now, you lose face,
and so do all the Saharans,
me included!
Sir, I cannot wear
this uniform if officers...
You mean Baculard, right?
Here, you'll keep this
as a souvenir.
Orders from Paris calling
Baculard back to France,
where he'll do some meditation
in a small town
before he's transferred
to the madhouse.
Come on, take it!
So, Saganne,
are you satisfied?
No, sir.
I heard the De Saint-Ilettes
put pressure...
A question for you, Saganne:
do you think
the President and his family
can impose their whims on me?
Do you?
Do you think me capable of surrounding
myself with officers I don't respect?
Would you rather
have stayed here to rot?
I took you with me
because I needed you.
And because you needed me.
One last question, Saganne:
do you think I'm a puppet?
Are you still resigning?
- Answer me!
- No.
At long last.
I was worried there.
Did you think of your family?
You support them, don't you?
I did think of them, sir.
Let's have lunch tomorrow.
I have a great mission for you.
In the meantime, relax a little.
You'll notice that everybody's
talking about you here.
I asked her to marry me.
I was going to convert to Islam,
stop drinking...
start over.
The bitch left the next day,
without a word, nothing.
Why?
With Arabs, you know...
I've lived with them a long time
and I know that those who like us,
hate us really.
For them, we're dogs
that pounced on Africa.
That's all we are.
And you...
a glorious,
handsome lieutenant.
The De Saint-Ilettes are going
to crawl at your feet!
Who's there?
Madeleine.
Are you crazy?
If anyone saw you here...
I waited for you
on the tennis court.
For hours.
Why didn't you come?
It's like I don't exist for you.
If I do, tell me so.
Tell me what I should do.
'Cause I'll do it.
- You are just a child...
- I am not a child!
I'm not!
Don't cry.
- I love you.
- Madeleine, l...
I've loved you
from the start.
Go home now.
I'll be back and
we'll see each other again.
I told you.
You are the man of the day!
I rarely eat out alone
with a subordinate.
Lieutenant...
I've decided to crush
Sultan Omar on his own ground.
Behind the border?
Borders are nothing
but lines on a map.
And we decide
where to draw them.
Now that Mekalla is with us,
we might as well
put an end to all dissidence
and insure our hold
on that area for good.
Does the government approve?
In a democracy,
you can act without
the government's approval,
on one condition:
if public opinion's behind you.
That's where you come into play.
I'm sending you to Paris.
I need a hero for the reporters.
Don't argue, you're a hero.
I want all Paris to talk about you...
and the Sahara.
Do you feel up to it?
I don't, sir.
You'll learn to...
Saganne.
So?
I failed trigonometry.
I won't make warrant officer.
I'm not even close.
I'm sorry.
It's okay.
The rain, that smell...
I'd forgotten all about it.
So the house is almost ours.
Go spend your vacation there
and start furnishing it.
Charles...
- I want to get married.
- "Want" or "will"?
I'm getting married,
as soon as I get my assignment.
Her name's Marthe Vallin.
I met her at a friend's.
She's a school teacher.
You and Dad are going
to like her.
- Lucien, you're 20 years old.
- 21 in two months.
No sermons, please!
I've heard it all before.
You don't know how lucky
you are to be a cadet!
- I know I owe it all to you.
- It's not what I mean!
You're ruining it all! You don't study,
you want to get married...
a 20 year-old failure!
I'm sorry, Lucien.
I'll come by your hotel.
Nine times the size of France.
Everything is big there.
Wind, silence, space...
those words take on
a whole different meaning there.
For those who have the honor
to insure the French peace there,
the desert teaches energy
and abnegation.
In the Sahara,
men are just men...
stripped of all pretense.
They are truer to themselves.
That is why we mustn't jeopardize
France's work in the Sahara.
Mr. Minister,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
peace will be threatened
until the rebels beyond
the border are wiped out.
It is the only option.
And it can be done.
That is all.
I'm the Baron de Soucy,
head of the Catholic
Colonial Friendship.
I meant to ask,
what do you think of the theory
according to which the Berber nomads
descend from crusaders?
It is said that, on their trip
to the Holy Land,
they got lost in the desert.
What do I think?
Nothing.
- I got your note this morning.
- And I got yours.
I had to sneak out
to get here.
Charles...
Marthe is waiting downstairs.
I want you to meet her.
I have nothing to say to her.
- She has a child, but I don't care.
- I don't want to discuss this.
By marrying an unwed mother, you're
ruining your career and your life.
I am asking you not to marry her.
That's impossible.
I'm warning you,
I'll do everything I can
to put a stop to this madness.
- I was expecting better from you.
- So was I.
Mr. Minister will see you now.
Lieutenant, that operation beyond
the borders will not take place,
in spite of Dubreuilh, who's been
after his two stars for four years.
- Him?
- Like all of them.
But Dubreuilh is
out of touch with reality.
We may soon
be at war with Germany,
so forget about Sultan Omar.
The right time was last year.
It's too late now.
Leave Dubreuilh to his mirage.
You seem nice,
brave and energetic.
You know the locals.
You need a real job.
I have an offer for you.
The Franco-Algerian Alfa
needs a new director
to replace
the decrepit Saint-Ilette.
Think about it before
you give me your answer.
There's nothing to think about.
- "The Liberating Angel."
- Beg your pardon?
Didn't you read the paper?
"The Liberating Angel"...
that's the title.
"He's handsome, brave
and eloquent.
Lieutenant Charles Saganne
has it all
and managed to charm us with his warm
voice and thrilling adventures.
However, what has
the desert taught him?
Energy, abnegation,
so it seems.
But where does
Saganne's path really lead?
He is a magnificent
blind machine
rushing ahead unaware
of what makes it go."
- Who wrote that?
- Louise Tissot...
our contemporary
Georges Sand.
Sir, I accepted my mission in Paris
because I considered it useful.
It turned out to be grotesque.
Colonel Dubreuilh had
no right to be so mistaken!
And you just tried to corrupt me!
If I don't reply to these insults,
then I deserve to be called a puppet.
Here you are.
I had everything planned out
and I fell asleep.
Planned out?
Hand me my robe, please.
The newspaper
gave you my address.
That's why I wrote that article.
So you'd come here.
My robe, please.
This was planned too.
What was?
You coming close to me,
your hand in mine...
I wanted to see you.
I wanted you.
If you hadn't come,
I would have gone to your hotel.
Easy.
Easy.
Easy!
Kiss me.
Easy! Easy!
Wait. Not yet.
Wait. Wait.
Young man in a hurry.
- What are you doing?
- Working.
Don't put your clothes on.
Please.
I want to stay with you.
For how long?
Don't.
I'll do what you say.
Let go.
Let go!
- I am meeting someone.
- Don't go.
If I put my life on hold for you,
what will it look like in two days?
- What?
- My life.
- What about me?
- Your life is there.
But I'm not stuck there.
I can come and go.
Please don't go!
- I'm begging you!
- Louise.
What's wrong?
Stop it. Louise!
You represent everything
that I hate...
the uniform, power
and moral justifications.
All that seems too far now.
I've learned so much with you.
- In my bedroom?
- Indeed.
In your bedroom.
Sir?
There's a letter for you.
Your hotel sent it over.
Thanks.
What is it?
What's wrong?
Please leave me alone. I don't want
to look pathetic in front of you.
What's wrong?
I'll leave you alone.
Call me if you need me.
So I did what I thought
was right.
I went to the Ministry of War
and I asked them to prevent
Lucien from getting married.
After he was
officially informed,
he went to see
that young woman,
he told her...
and she drowned
two hours later.
You're all pale.
I turn yellow
in such situations.
You shouldn't have done that.
And you shouldn't have told me.
Go.
Vulpi!
Vulpi!
Get up! Arms drill!
You've been sleeping
for three months!
He's gone nuts.
Are you going out tonight?
Now that Dubreuilh's
been sent off,
how long do you think
we'll stay in this jolly place?
We'll be here awhile.
Wattignie's taking it out on me.
And you on them.
It makes sense.
That's the point of hierarchy.
Go wash up. You stink.
Sure, sure, sure.
It's a not a good sign
when they suddenly take off.
They left the old lady behind.
What's she saying?
She says Sultan Omar is coming back
to cut everybody's balls off. Bullshit.
Still, go check out
what's going on.
"Dear Madeleine,
I'm all alone.
This place is deserted,
completely empty,
just like me.
I think of you more and more,
and I wish I could have you
naked next to me,
my skin against your skin...
your legs, your belly..."
"Dear Madeleine,
how have you been?
I hope you
and your family are well.
Do you still play tennis
with my friend Hazan?
- My work here..."
- So you took my booze!
- You've had enough to drink!
- It's mine!
Give it back.
"Dear Madeleine..."
No kidding?
You're still hopeful?
It's too fucking late!
You've been fucked!
The peasant guy got fucked!
I can't take this anymore.
I have no desire for anything.
Just leave.
Take a leave.
Go home. To Arige.
- So?
- Sir, they're all saying
many warriors are siding
with Sultan Omar.
Three different tribes!
- 30 came by yesterday.
- Did you see them?
No, but they say Sultan Omar
will rally up 500 warriors.
That's a lie. 500 warriors
cannot all follow one leader.
- Shut up!
- Why shut up?
- Liar!
- I'm not a liar!
Cut out the crap!
Sir, look at the doc.
Louis!
Louis!
Stay where you are,
Saganne!
I figured out
why we're here!
To serve France!
But who is that?
It's the priests and the police,
and those jerk-offs in their offices!
That's why we're here!
So we don't have to see them!
So we can be free!
But we forgot one thing:
we're bored!
We're fucking bored!
Be careful. Louis!
You're gonna listen.
For once, you'll listen
without interrupting.
You don't see anything,
you don't see anyone...
but I've always known
I was done for!
I'm a pitiful soldier...
a pitiful doctor, a pitiful musician.
I'm nothing.
Get down.
And you're nothing too!
You're Saganne!
You're nothing but a word.
Look, Saganne.
- Is that the doctor?
- Yes.
This is for you.
How about you, Saganne?
That's where I'm from.
Omar is crazy.
He wants to fight.
He wants to kill all the French.
He wants to be in power.
He will not allow anybody
any rights. He's crazy.
No one can stop him now.
Do you know
when he'll cross the border?
Tomorrow.
Maybe the day after.
- Give my regards to Mekalla.
- I will.
Don't stay here.
Omar is on its way here.
Omar is on his way.
We'll stop him in Esseyen.
With 48 men and no orders?
We'll leave at 5:00 a.m.
and everything we'll need
to set up a fortified camp.
Even if we don't stop him,
we'll slow him down.
That will give Wattignie
some time to get organized.
Pick a messenger.
I can dig you another hole
to gain some time.
"Madeleine,
this letter I am writing to you
is probably the last.
I realize it is also the first.
I love you, but I wasn't able
to tell you...
or myself, for that matter.
Tomorrow, we'll fight
a terrible battle,
but one that I want to fight.
Just like you, it is already lost,
but I still want it.
Who could understand that?
I met another woman after you,
before you.
Until I met her, I'd never
asked myself questions.
Now, I wish I could spend my life
with you, away from here,
in a house I was not
lucky enough to live in,
a house nestled in a park,
where our children would play
and where I would die one day,
but not tomorrow.
Not tomorrow.
Not tomorrow.
Farewell, Madeleine."
The first one is at 200.
Stop it.
What the fuck are they doing?
- Where are they?
- They're everywhere, sir.
Everywhere.
Over there!
Fire at will!
Get up! Fire back!
Everybody get up!
Fire back!
Get yourselves in place.
Fire!
Cease fire!
Cease fire!
Cease fire!
Fire!
Cease fire!
Vulpi, cease fire!
Hey, brothers!
You bastards!
Bastards!
You pansy bastards!
Enough!
Get back here and stay down!
The guy over there is his cousin.
Stay at your posts!
Leave the camels.
At your posts!
Fire at will!
Cease fire!
Larbi.
- What's the matter?
- I got shot.
Vulpi!
- What's that?
- Sugar.
That's all I have left.
It'll stop the bleeding
when it dries off.
Hold out, sir.
We're the winners.
Sultan Omar is scared now.
Even if he kills us all,
you're the winner.
Have them fire once in a while
so they don't fall asleep.
You Muslim brothers,
I have important news for you!
The toughest tribes
are coming.
They're numerous
and ruthless.
I can't believe it.
It's a whole army.
Ahmed has deserted.
Nobody saw him leave.
Pick your six best shooters.
They'll cover us from here.
Cover what?
We'll wait for them to charge
and we'll pull out our bayonets.
Have the other men join me.
We gotta die somehow.
Ready to fire!
Good. Wait some more.
Fire!
Fire!
Go!
Go!
Halt!
Get ready to fire!
Fire!
Fire!
Fire!
Let's regroup. They won't
be scared for too long.
Sultan Omar's going home,
you can be sure of it.
They've never seen
anything like this.
I didn't believe
in your freaking charge.
Thanks, Madeleine.
See you tomorrow
on the tennis court?
Hello, Madeleine.
Hello.
How have you been?
- Very well.
- Good bye, then.
Ren, I'll see you
again tomorrow.
I'm happy to see you,
Charles.
It's a privilege to have
a hero for a friend.
You've made history.
I have to talk to you.
What, now?
How do you feel
about Madeleine?
- What does that have to do with you?
- Don't play dumb.
You're being dumb.
What would it change
if I told you I loved her?
You don't know her.
If she chooses to,
she'll marry you.
You would like to win a friendly battle
between us, wouldn't you?
Sorry, but I can't play your game.
Can you imagine the De Saint-Ilettes
going to synagogue?
Stop it. You have the money,
and I have nothing.
- You are successful.
- And so what?
I had to pay a high price for it.
We know that.
We know you're brave.
I'm no braver than others.
I'm like anybody else.
So you're Jewish and you love her!
Is that my fault?
I'm sorry.
No harm done.
It's not your fault indeed.
In the name of the President,
and by the powers invested in me,
I am making you Knight
of the Legion of Honor.
Mr. and Mrs. De Saint-Ilette...
I am asking for your daughter's
hand in marriage.
Madam, sir...
I am planning on marrying
your daughter Madeleine.
No.
Yes, mother.
July 1914
I don't want us to be apart.
Ever.
- I don't mean to intrude.
- You are welcome here.
This house is yours.
Good timing.
I could use your help.
I want everything to be ready
for Dad's arrival.
- I'm leaving tonight.
- Already?
- Something big is happening.
- What's happening?
Are you kidding?
Jean Jaurs was
assassinated last night.
Didn't you know?
No, I didn't.
I am being sent to Nancy.
The idiots.
Waging this war
is the worst thing to do.
Charles, we have to retaliate
to the Germans' attack.
Come in and meet Madeleine.
Why are you telling me
about Baculard now?
- You didn't quit, in the end.
- Indeed.
One day, I saw them all
lined up in front of me...
Grandpa, Dad and him.
They were sitting
in the exact same position.
They were like a brick wall.
Let's go outside.
- Can you make us some coffee?
- I'll meet you outside.
Soon, Dad will live here
with the two of you.
Life will go on.
What do you mean?
Be very careful, Lucien.
If war is declared,
be very careful.
It won't be a big loss
for anybody.
It would be for me.
I don't want to hear
what you think.
Can you understand
that I love you
even though
I can't forgive you?
Why did you come here?
To say goodbye.
Charles?
Charles!
Sir, I have just given your men
our last jars of jam.
- Thank you, Mother.
- They seem so lost here.
I also meant to let you know...
that I prayed
for your late brother.
And I prayed for you too.
I'm sorry,
but I don't believe in God.
We received new orders, sir.
We're going back to the front.
The Krauts are attacking.
Sir?
Can you write my letter
before we go get butchered?
"To Captain Marcheux,
Algiers."
Write exactly what I say.
"It is my honor to report
to you...
that we're in deep shit.
Out of 50 platoons,
All others have died
or been injured.
Larbi has lost an arm.
Big Mohammad has lost an eye.
I now understand
what we're here for:
we're here to share first line
with the niggers."
Add that I salute him.
Let me sign it.
Thank you, sir.
I've been looking for you
for so long...
for months.
How did you find me?
Through your friend
Ren Hazan.
- You went by his house.
- I did.
- You're married?
- He didn't tell you?
No.
Do I know her?
- Do you love her?
- I do.
More than you loved me?
No.
I want to have your child.
That's why I've been
looking for you.
Sorry, sir.
Everybody's waiting
in the trucks.
They're waiting in the trucks?
This is for you.
You are beautiful.
Don't move.
Don't ever move.
Charge! Charge!
Charge!
Charge!
- We're done for, sir!
- We gotta go.
They won't!
- They won't go, sir.
- They'll pay with their lives anyway.
When you return,
tell them...
Go. You go.
Second regiment,
out of the ditch and advance slowly.
Hurry up, dammit.
Don't fall asleep and get your weapons.
Can you hear me, sir?
Move your eyelids
if you can hear me.
Would you like me
to read your letters?
This is from your wife.
She says
she's expecting a child.
Did you hear me, sir?
A child.
This is
from Captain Flammarin.
He says,
"I quit drinking
and I met your wife.
She invited me for lunch.
As I was sitting
in front of her,
it occurred to me
you finally got what you wanted...
adventure, glory,
success and happiness."
Throw the body into the water.
I have no more room.
He was exceptionally driven,
energetic and brave.
He acted as a hero
at Esseyen
and kept the Sahara French.
In his last efforts
to lead his soldiers
through battle,
he made the ultimate
sacrifice for France.
Attention!
- What's your name?
- Charles Saganne.
I'm Amajar.
See the camel over there?
It's yours.