There's a narration at the end of Of Gods and Men that betrays everything that works in almost every scene that precedes it. It discusses the beauty of Islam and how the terrorism that affected these real life monks who lived in Algeria in the early 1990s was a distortion of everything beautiful about one of the great religions of our world. We're left with an overreaching political statement about tolerance which sounds all-too-familiar and completely inorganic. Of Gods and Men is fundamentally about humble and good Catholic men who relied on their faith to deliver them through unimaginable trials, turning them into martyrs, not for the glory of this world but for the glory of the next world. Therefore, a simplistic blanket proclamation about Islam is not the way this story should have ended.
From the very beginning, it's clear that we're about to spend a great deal of time with men of intense prayer. The pacing is noticeably deliberate, allowing the viewer to become immersed in the asceticism guiding the daily schedule of the community. They pray, read in silence, eat in silence while listening to holy writings read out loud, work around the house, have community meetings and sleep. An older asthmatic monk named Brother Luc (Michael Lonsdale) tends the medical needs of the poor Muslims of the Algerian village. Brother Christophe (Olivier Rabourdin) cultivates the garden, while the superior of the community, Brother Christian (Lambert Wilson), works on his often overly academic sermons and spiritual reflections for his community. Brother Celestin (Philippe Laudenbach) drives the car and plans the music. He also takes a journey to Paris to seek council of the head of their order when the violence surrounding the area escalates.
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