Even though the French film Of Gods and Men<\/em>\u2014which won the 2010 Grand Prix at Cannes\u2014is based on real events that took place in Algeria in 1995 and 1996, one particular scene may have even more contemporary resonance for viewers. The Algerian military has called Brother Christian, the prior of a small Trappist monastery, to identify a dead man believed to be the leader of a jihadist group that terrorized the area, even leading a raid on the monastery. A military official proudly tells Brother Christian that the dead man\u2019s corpse was dragged through the streets behind a truck, as those who had suffered at his hands cheered. Brother Christian, disturbed, declares that no human being should be treated in such a fashion, no matter what his crimes. When he sees the dead man, he makes the sign of the cross and begins to pray. The military official\u2019s eyes turn hard as flint. The war between the way of the cross and the way of the sword is on.<\/p>\n Especially in the wake of Osama bin Laden\u2019s death, it would be far too easy to politicize Of Gods and Men<\/em>, to turn its message, as some reviewers have done, into a movie primarily expressing either (a) the hope for brotherhood between Christians and Muslims or (b) as movieguide.org says, \u201ca wake-up call to western civilization\u201d (and I don\u2019t think they mean a wake-up call to take up our crosses and suffer with Christ). Political issues are indeed addressed in the film, as they should be: these are French monks dwelling in a former French colony, though part of their intended mission is to repair the wounds of history. In the film\u2019s admission that, in the fallen world, spiritual life can never be completely extricated from the messiness of the temporal\u2014especially because of Christians\u2019 historical participation in European colonialism\u2014it bears comparison to The Mission<\/em><\/a> (one of my favorite films). Nor does the film shy away from depicting the ugly reality of the terrorists\u2019 violence. Yet Of Gods and Men<\/em> is also, in a deep way, about spiritual discernment. It\u2019s about the voice of God, speaking to men\u2014through Word, liturgy, sacrament, communal life, and even \u201csecular\u201d music.<\/p>\n As tensions grow during the Algerian Civil War, as reports flow in of women killed for refusing to wear the hijab, of Europeans killed for being Europeans, the monks face the difficult decision of whether to stay or leave. They debate their potentially life-and-death decision together only twice\u2014in the first of these meetings, they are divided between different opinions. Because Of Gods and Men<\/em> isn\u2019t an exposition-heavy movie, some viewers may be left wondering why they can\u2019t just pack up and pray elsewhere (Roger Ebert<\/a> even calls it \u201cegotism to believe their help must take place in this specific monastery\u201d). Trappists, with other monastic orders, take a vow of stability, a commitment not only to the community of people but to geographical place, in the belief that God works spiritual transformation\u2014true conversion of life\u2014through this kind of deep rooting. It\u2019s a sacred vow. For the monks to even consider leaving their monastery, the situation must be dire.<\/p>\n Of Gods and Men<\/em> does not portray the monks as perfect individuals. During the discernment process, each individual\u2019s weakness surfaces. Brother Christian at first unequivocally refuses military protection from the Algerian government, without first consulting his brothers\u2014an oversight for which they call him to task. The film shows a hardness to Brother Christian that suggests his motivation may involve some stubborn pride or even a bit of a martyr complex. Another monk struggles with the nagging doubt that, if they are martyred, it will be for nothing. Even a man who has already given up everything for Christ can sometimes still fear death. Yet, despite their initial disagreement over their course of action, the monks continue the rhythm of their daily life together, going about their tasks in the garden or in the community medical clinic, punctuating the hours with sung liturgy and prayer.<\/p>\n Within a few weeks, when the monks again meet together to vote on staying or leaving, they are of a single mind. What has led them to such unity? Certainly not rational discussion of the pros and cons of each side. Instead, they work together. They sing together and take the Eucharist together. They listen together. And through these daily activities they are each nudged toward the same decision. More than any movie I can think of, Of Gods and Men<\/em> is a testament to the importance of worship to a community\u2014worship as a vehicle through which God works to form his people in his image.<\/p>\n The filmmakers wisely chose to have the actors playing the monks, instead of a trained choir, sing in the film. The actors themselves, in interviews, expressed that the experience of singing bound them together. \u201cTo chant psalms is to breathe together, to share the Breath of Life,\u201d says Olivier Rabourdin<\/a>, who plays Brother Christophe. In the movie itself, the psalms give voice to the whole range of human emotions\u2014in a way, allowing the monks to \u201cact\u201d out fear, anger, confidence, and praise, no matter what they actually happen to be feeling at the moment. And God speaks to each in these moments of song and in the silences in between. Though we as viewers do not hear God\u2019s literal voice in the film, we see the monks expressing gratitude for the wisdom they have been given: one monk looks joyfully up to the sky as it pours down rain on his face, another whispers \u201cYou surround me\u201d to God in the middle of the night, another contemplates a poster of the crucified Jesus on the wall, putting his fingers on the spear wound in his side.<\/p>\n