The Cinema of Political Allegory

* Beau Travail, 1999, 90 min., directed by Claire Denis, produced by Pathé Télévision and SM Films, written by Claire Denis and Jean-Pol Fargeau. Distributed by Mercure Distribution.

** Dynamite “Moh,” or “The Algerian Version of ‘Dynamite Jack’,” 1996, French Subtitled Version, 1999, 100 min., Algerian version producd by Mala Films. Distributed by Virgin Megastore (France), The Fnac (France).

In Walter Benjamin’s apocryphal “Theses on the Philosophy of History” he writes,

The tradition of the oppressed teaches us that the “state of emergency” in which we live is not the exception to the rule. We must attain to a conception of history that is in keeping with this insight. Then we shall clearly realize that it is our task to bring about a real state of emergency, and this will improve our position in the struggle against fascism. ¹

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

French Legionnaires bonding in Djibouti

Two recent French films, Dynamite “Moh” and Beau Travail, bring to mind Benjamin’s state of emergency as an approach to understanding contemporary politics and institutional imperatives. In these two films, a “state of emergency” is not simply a form of alarmist behavior, but rather part of the struggle to create meaningful visual representations that question how the micropolitics of state power influence the exercise of violence.

Both films draw upon the power of political allegory to describe the current state of multiculturalism in France and the French colonial legacy. Dynamite “Moh” focuses on the contemporary Algerian civil war through a multi-layered adaptation of the Western film genre. Beau Travail addresses the current state of the French Foreign Legion and uses the morally unreliable voice of a dishonorably discharged officer in the Legion to evoke a series of soothing fascistic norms. These two films speak to Benjamin’s “state of emergency” as a call to action against totalitarianism in France and Algeria.

Dynamite “Moh” is an allegorical rendering of a declared “state of emergency” in contemporary Algeria. It is an adaptation of an already produced French spaghetti (or camembert) Western that uses farce to momentarily release the deadly circle of violence in contemporary Algeria. Without changing the visual montage, two French-based Franco-Algerian comedians created a new post-synchronous Franco-Algerian Arabic voice track for the film. Fellag and Allalou bought the rights to this obscure film, originally entitled Dynamite Jack (1961, dir. Jean Bastia), and transformed it into a satire on contemporary Algerian politics, renaming it Dynamite “Moh.” The familiar “Moh,” as in Mohammed, refers to the name of the prophet in Islam and, by association, the holy war on secular institutions declared by the Groupe Islamique Armée (GIA). ²

Jean Bastia’s Dynamite Jack was a spoof on the American Western. The immensely popular French Marseillaise comedian Fernandel stars in the two title roles of the film, Dynamite Jack, the fastest (and badest) gunslinger in the West, and Antoine Esperandieu, a naive and confused French fortune hunter invited by a friend to share in the gold rush of Arizona. Arizona is confused with California as the site of the gold rush, and as soon as Antoine arrives, he finds his friend, Jules Lavisse, being buried after a shoot-out with Dynamite Jack. In Dynamite “Moh,” Antoine Esperandieu is recast as Atamane Lamane (Fernandel/Fellag), ³ an extremely gullible city slicker from Algiers in search of oil in the Algerian provinces. The sheriff (Lucien Raimbourg/ Allalou) would have the hardheaded Atamane Lamane believe that, just as there was no gold in Arizona, all of the oil wells have dried up or are in the hands of British Petroleum and Elf Aquatine.

The first name Atamane draws on the historical significance of the Ottomans presence in Algeria, formerly serving as French-backed mercenaries. His last name, Lamane, is a play on the first name of the previous president of Algeria, Liamine Zéroual, who was put into office by the army in 1995. Atamane goes to the Algerian frontier in search of Djelloul Elvisse, who is based in Laghouat...