In René Vautier’s scathing critique of the Algerian War, several young French pacifists find themselves in a moral and geographic wasteland after being sent off to fight in the desolate Aures mountains. Set amid the dramatic rock faces of northern Algeria, Vautier’s film is a searing look at the horrors and injustices of colonial warfare. Midway through shooting, Vautier was rushed to the hospital after a bomb exploded beside him, lodging fragments of his own camera deep in his skull. They were never removed.
