Chronicle of the Years of Fire (1975)
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Chronicle of the Years of Fire Movie Review
Chronicle of the Years of Fire is a 1975 Algerian epic historical film directed by Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina. It is a very well made movie that is staggering in length.
An Algerian fights in World War II, then returns and joins the 1954 rebellion against the French. Depicting this brutal war through the role of a peasant, the movie is one of those epic pictures that are meant to rouse the viewer and it does succeed that at times, but unfortunately it also manages to become rather exhausting to watch due to its enormous length.
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Clocking in at three hours, this is not an easy film to watch. It’s an important one, but not an engaging watch for sure. The film takes an audio-visual approach to telling its story for better and for worse. On the one hand, it led to a very cinematic viewing experience that is beautiful and epic to watch, but on the other hand, it did make for a movie that is sparse in historical facts. For the real history and what happened during the crucial Algerian War of Independence, you would have to do some reading on your own.
In terms of the characters, the movie isn’t great. This is an epic film that is more concerned with scope than with any individual character, so it is only expected that they would not be as well developed as in some other genres. Nonetheless, the peasant himself as a tragic figure and that ending was emotionally powerful and so memorable.
Chronicle of the Years of Fire is absolutely fantastic in terms of its technicalities. Not only are the score and sound terrific, but the cinematography is excellent and the production design is impressive. The movie has some amazing takes and shots throughout that make it a really epic. It was an ambitious undertaking that mostly worked as the directing from Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina is also very strong. The movie ended up winning Palme d’Or and is one of the lesser-known winners at Cannes due to that frustrating runtime, but it’s a worth a watch for its other numerous merits.
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Chronicle of the Years of Fire is a three-hour long Algerian epic that is definitely imposing in length and thus not particularly engaging, but it is worth seeing for its impressive audio-visuals alone. Its production design and cinematography are phenomenal while the movie was admirably ambitious in scope. It’s one of the lesser-known Palm d’Or winners.
My Rating – 4
