Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Freaktana A Major Disappointment

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

solaris1968 An incredibly-filmed, gripping, and haunting movie about the horrors of guerrilla warfare, from the perspective of French troops in Algeria. The film is hypnotizing in its portrayal of the way in which violence and torture end up shattering these men's psyche and spirit.The movie is also a good reminder of the hypocrisy of imperial powers. Many French fought the Nazi Germans when they invaded their country in the name of "freedom", but just 20 years later they were trying to crush the Algerian resistance for doing exactly the same thing: opposing a foreign, colonial occupation of their land. Yet the movie avoids simplistic dichotomies and, far from romanticizing the Algerian FLN, it crudely shows the atrocities committed by both sides. The landscapes in which the action takes place are mesmerizing in their crude, gripping, raw beauty.

vostf L'Ennemi Intime is simply a non-movie. What does it take to dish out such an unidentifiable cinematographic object? Producer blindness, too proud to see the vacuum in the project, too proud to have it challenged by some trustworthy colleague.L'Ennemi Intime first (digital) shot sets it all : it is not linked with the beginning of narration and the only purpose is to have the movie title pompously emerge from the horizon. Let's forget it. What's the story? A French platoon is stuck in the middle of The Undeclared War in Algeria. It's not really that they are stuck but there's a sensation they're alone to fight an (oh so) absurd war. Actually they are the French colonial power struggling against the ever elusive rebel forces who will fight to death for their freedom, for Algerian independence.The subtext is clear if you know this part of History, yet the political aspect is buried under the makeshift of a script, I mean the episodic screenplay... well, let's say it more bluntly: the treatment in pictures.Would you believe the storyline is only made of a series of missions that are loosely connected (fight the rebels round the corner)? What else? Nothing. The pitched opposition between the idealistically young Lieutenant and the experienced tough Sergeant is not an opposition, only an easy-going working relationship. Lieutenant Terrien (Magimel) is a bland character with no character arc whatsoever, Sergeant Dougnac (Dupontel) is basically more interesting but nothing interesting happens to him after the opening sequence before Terrien is brought in to helm the bunch.Except for a couple of French-Algerian characters there's almost nobody to root for. The absence of story is all the more palpable as locations are great and the cinematography is excellent. In the end there's a gigantic gap between the graphical aspirations of the director and the inaction imposed over by the script.Obviously the idea was to team up a promising director (Siri) who would deliver the images and a documentary screenwriter (Rotman) who would deliver the contents (historical and controversial yet accurate). The problem is Siri is light on screen-writing and only understands action while Rotman is overwhelmed by his historical knowledge and doesn't know how to write fiction (i.e. loosen the ties of historical accuracy to tell an engaging story featuring interesting fictional characters).BOTTOM LINE. Cinematography and locations: excellent. All the rest is not worth watching.

Scotchorama L'Ennemi Intime is a good attempt at portraying the Algerian War and its complexities. It is undoubtedly a gritty movie, with grittier colors, and even grittier characters... I came feeling gritty myself, and uneasy, which means that in my case the film did have a certain impact. However, the story-that of an idealistic lieutenant facing the realities of war and his reaction-was, in my opinion, weak. Filmed mostly from the French soldiers' point of view, the film was too simplistic and predictable, and its characters are unidimensional and bland, and ultimately unconvincing. The only difference in this film is that it is about the Algerian War. Whereas it is not your average hero-triumphs war movie, it is your average innocent-discovers-horror war movie. It is not as deep and good as Chronique des Annees de Braise, and is miles from the provocatively brilliant, and highly-recommended Bataille d'Alger.

gilbert franco Be prepared... Here comes what might be the most important french movie of the last few years. France has always been hiding its little political secrets and taboos, and although Americans have been multiplying projects about the Vietnam wars and the Watergate, France rarely make movies about politics. France hides itself behind the human rights. L'ENNEMI INTIME carries a heavy burden : to be the first major popular movie about the Algeria wars since THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS by Gillo Pontecorvo (1966). The objective is the same : the war still hides a huge taboo, and Siri (alongside Rotman, his writer) has tried to talk about it in a large way, avoiding caricatures and ideologies (upon which things wars usually define themselves). Lots of people in France are already accusing the movie of being spectacular. But all stories, important stories, once they've become an art form, have to drain mythology and great figures. In the way of Leone and Cimino, Siri draws archetypal soldiers torn apart between their nation, the facts, the day to day casualties of war and their own growing madness. L'ENNEMI INTIME is a true war movie, in the American tradition, as HELL IS FOR HEROES, MEN IN WAR or ATTACK. One mission turns nightmare. People redefine their own persona through this mission. The action, like in any war movie, is a political ritual that put human beings on trial with themselves. Siri uses the visual force of APOCALYPSE NOW and the brutality of PREDATOR (the scene with the falling trees) to build a mean, nervous, cruel vision, as dry as the movie is short and frontal (96 minutes). Spectacular means impact, shock, nervous attack. To wake up the minds and make them realize the importance of this war, the movie had to be spectacular. The FLN (arab liberation party) is cruel. French soldiers are cruel. Arabs torture Arabs tortured by french torturing themselves. This is war. A new brilliant motion picture by Florent Siri, making better movies each time.