L'Algérie des chimères (2001– )

Stars:

Aladin Reibel, Olivier Sitruk, Marion Valantine

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Aladin Reibel	...	Odilon Hubert
Olivier Sitruk	...	Hélie Toussaint
Marion Valantine	...	Leila (as Marion Beulque)
Nozha Khouadra	...	Bahia
Lilah Dadi	...	Hadj Hamou
Zakariya Gouram	...	Aissa 20 ans
Ayoube Nesrate	...	Aïssa 11 ans
Amel Djemel	...	Naouel 30 ans
Saïda Jawad	...	Naouel 18 ans
Mahmoud Ousfour	...	Yaouled 1
Abdessamad Meftahelkhair	...	Yaouled 2
Lilly-Fleur Pointeaux	...	Jeanne 11 ans
Vahina Giocante	...	Jeanne 20 ans
Pierre-Augustin Crenn	...	Emile 12 ans
Yacine Oulamine	...	Emile 21 ans

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

tv mini series

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

16 November 2001 (France)

Also Known As:

Rivalen unterm Halbmond

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arte

Technical Specs

Runtime:

270 min 270 min (3 episodes)

Color:

Color

User Reviews

imperial, racial and sexual ambiguities in 19th century French Algeria

The richly decorated mini-series vividly portrays the zeitgeist of colonial Algeria and studies the relations between metropolis and colony, colonizer and colonized, friend and foe.It is also a study of male friendship both between compatriots as the French doctor and interpretor who have different ideas on the organization of the French presence in Algeria as well between foreigners as the doctor and the Algerian patriot.I liked the costumes and locales as well the Algerian traditional songs dispersed through the action.Sexual relations are also explored, French men are not above keeping native women as concubines but the native woman's position under Islamic law is not more enviable or free, the mini-series seems to suggest. Idealist youths seeking a fusion between metropolis and colony on a higher plane are juxtaposed to old hand military men with hard won experience and the pessimistic belief that force is the only language natives understand. I found the clash between idealism and realism superbly portrayed, a clash generated by the inevitable dilemmas of imperial expansion of which A passage to India is another example, although the present mini-series has a more documentaristic approach and refers to French rather than to British imperialism.Recommended.