The First Man (Le Premier Homme) (第一人)

My last film at the HKIFF Le Premier Homme (The First Man) (2011) written and directed by Gianni Amelio (La stella che non c'è (2006)), is a very personal tale of the complex emotions of an Algerian born and raised French novelist upon his return as an honoured guest to his Algerian alma mater in the politically turbulent times on the eve of its independence.

Based upon a posthumously found half completed manuscript for a novel by one of my favourite French writers, Albert Camus, the story hovers between the past and the present, between childhood and adulthood, between the political ideal of unity between the French and the native Arab and some of the local born French colonials and the political reality of agitation by extremists on both sides of the issue, rather like the issue of Tibet in China today. Camus was  sympathetic to the cause of Algerians independence.

As the film opens, we see a man Jean Cormerly (Jacques Gamblin) busily trudging along a narrow alley uphill in the Arab quarters of the city, being stared at by the Arab passers-by. That was in 1957. He was looking for an old  friend, Abdelkarim Benhabboucha, an Arab who when they were young and studying at the same primary school had out of jealousy grabbed him from behind whilst the future novelist was engrossed in reading a book during recess time. As a result, they got into a fight. It was seen by the teacher who asked who started it first. The Arab boy Mickael Batret (Michael Betret) raised his hand and admitted to it. He was made to stand at a corner of the football field during the lunch break. When the victim offered him a piece of bread, he brushed him off in anger. When his grandma learned of the incident, she decided that the boy should quit school and help earn some money for their family living from hand to mouth, by working as a printer's apprentice. But later, his former teacher paid him a visit and persuaded her grandma to let him continue his studies because he saw great potential in the boy who was always able to answer all the questions he posed to the class. He said he could arrange for a subsidy for the boy because of his poverty. His grandma relented.

At the school and at home, the young would be novelist was taught the value of honesty and of justice. We are shown an episode whereby the poor future novelist was asked by her grandmotherUlla Bau to go to the local butcher to buy 500 grams of meat. When he returned, he came back with 450 gm. The grandmother (Ulla Baugué ) took the child back to the butcher's where she argued with him and harangued him for cheating a boy. The butcher denied and insisted that the boy only gave him 4.50 sous instead of 5 sous. Whilst they were arguing, the boy stood watching in silence. In the end, the butcher gave her the "missing" meat. On the way back home, he told his grandma that the butcher was right! His grandma was furious and there and then asked him to take the meat back to the butcher and to apologize. He explained that whilst going to the loo, a coin fell out and dropped into the toilet bowl and he did not retrieve it because it was too dirty. Whilst the boy was gone, we see the grandma reaching her hand into the toilet bowl. That's how poor they were. That was in 1924.

One of the people the novelist saw upon his return to Algeria was his former teacher Mr. Bernard (Denis Podalydes) . They discussed the situation in Algeria. His teacher said he was worried because the voice of the racist extremists appeared to be getting louder and louder. Then we see the author giving his speech. Immediately before he spoke, we hear the words of an extremist advocating violence. When the author spoke, he spoke of the need of the French and the Arabs to live living in harmony, as they have done in the past and of the importance of justice and that it was still possible. But the extremists on both sides got into a fight at the university lecture hall and the following morning, the local newspaper splashed headline banner "Commotion after author spoke".  We see how proud his mother, Catherine Comery (Catherine Sola) an illiterate who has since learned a little to read so that she can read what his son wrote, felt when she discovered the news article..I think her illiterate mother, who refused to return to France, is a symbol of the author's own love of Algeria.

When the novelist finally found his Arab friend, he was told that his good friend was in a depression. When his friend saw him, he was delighted but sad. He told the author that his son (Hachemi Abdelmalek) had been arrested for being involved in terrorist activities but that he was convinced that his son was innocent. The author told him he knew the Minister of Interior and would do his best to see if something could be done. We next see him visiting the man's son and told him about his plans and then we see the man's father visiting his son, who told his father that he was not as innocent as his father thought and that he was proud of what he did. We learned later that there was no reprieve of his death sentence. 
   
It was a simple tale, told simply about how  a man must live honestly and be true to himself and accept the consequences of his act, with calm, with quiet courage, with indifference and perhaps even with a certain contempt vis a vis the injustices of the times brought on by those forces beyond one's control which some would call his "fate" or "destiny". We see also in this film how the values of honesty, justice and moral courage may have been implanted into one's psyche from a young age, by one's concrete life experience and how such values may flower long after one is grown up and sustain one and keep one on one's track with unshaken steadfastness. In this film the cinematographer has caught well the atmosphere of the Algerian sun, the Arab style architecture, the busy cafes and bazaars and the cool but dark interior of the houses of the poor in Algeria. I like the play of light and dark in the film which was done with great sensitivity. A reflective close to my not too hectic film viewing at this year's HKIFF.