Under the burning African sun
Cochin-China, Madagascar
A mighty phalanx
Hoisted up our banners
Its motto, "Honor and Valor"
Makes for brave soldiers
Its flag, that of France
Is a sign of glory
Hello, Djibouti?
Marseilles, late February.
I have time to kill now.
I screwed up from a certain point of view. Viewpoints count.
Angles of attack.
My story is simple —
the story of a man who left France for too long...
a soldier who left the army as a sergeant.
Chief Master Sergeant Galoup.
That's me.
Unfit for life. Unfit for civil life.
Did you fish a lot in Sicily?
With my father, when I was a kid.
I fished with my Uncle Livio.
He moved to Turin. He taught me.
Careful.
You used bread as bait?
It's better than cheese.
That depends.
One day, a plane from France dropped off some new guys.
I noticed one of them who stuck out. He was thin.
Distant.
He had no reason to be with us in the Legion.
That's what I thought.
I felt something vague and menacing take hold of me.
Gilles Sentain was his name...
the name he gave to the Legion when he signed up.
Maybe freedom begins with remorse.
I heard that somewhere.
My muscles are rusty.
I'm rusty, eaten away by acid.
Under the burning African sun
Cochin-China, Madagascar
A mighty phalanx
Hoisted up our banners
Its motto, "Honor and Valor"...
What counts above all
Is discipline in the Legion
Loving one's superior, obeying him
That's the essence of our tradition
Training, guard duty, washing, ironing, time off.
The routine.
How many stripes are there?
One, two, three, four...
- Are there 13 of them? - Yes.
Good. We always sit on mats with 13 stripes.
We're attached to the custom.
It's a tradition.
How much are you selling it for?
10,000.
Good price. Not long ago, they cost between 14,000 and 16,000.
Mine is 10,000.
Prices went up during the celebration.
It's so cheap. What did you pay for it?
I made it myself.
Bruno.
Bruno Forestier.
I feel so alone when I think of my superior.
I respected him a lot. I liked him.
My commandant.
A rumor dogged him after the Algerian war.
He never confided in me.
He said he was a man without ideals, a soldier without ambition.
I admired him without knowing why.
He knew I was a perfect legionnaire...
and he didn't give a damn.
Bruno.
Bruno Forestier.
And there was Ali.
Ali bought him his qat.
Night after night, Forestier chewed on it, alone...
with Ali or someone else, or at a friend's house.
I never touched those leaves. I liked to stay on edge.
Forestier, Sentain.
And me, Galoup.
Only one of us managed to stay in the family,
in the 13th Section, in the Legion.
There was something so strange that night...
a sort of harbinger of things to come...
of the circumstances that sent me far from the Red Sea and Djibouti.
Sentain walked ahead of the others.
Ramadan had just begun.
The arcades were all lit up.
My bastards are good kids.
They're your only family.
You're a father looking out for your sons.
Could be.
Guess how much a colored girl costs here.
You're a pain, Ali.
What are you thinking?
If it weren't for fornication and blood, we wouldn't be here.
That's all.
In triumph, they carried one of their own.
One of their own.
We're taught elegance in and under our uniforms.
Perfect creases are part of this elegance.
Good, Cosse.
Here I am, Commandant. Like a watchdog.
Looking after your flock.
- Tank top? - Yes.
What's this?
Shirt.
That's right.
- Boxers? - Underwear.
- Shirt... - Right.
Good.
Socks.
I can speak French.
Why did you join the Legion?
Commandant, you know what it's like in Russia.
No money, no work.
I was in the army there for two years.
I fought for Russia.
But it's impossible to fight just for an ideal.
An ideal that keeps changing.
You know what I mean?
What ideal?
How much?
1,000?
I'm rambling... ruminating.
Begging for a word...
a gesture.
My beautiful...
Rahel.
Sentain seduced everyone.
He attracted stares.
People were drawn to his calmness, his openness.
Deep down, I felt a sort of rancor, a rage brimming.
I was jealous.
He doesn't like you.
Beware.
Where's the baklava?
You should have lit them first!
We just want to eat it.
Blow them out!
Thanks, guys. So I'm 18 now.
First we just heard a deafening noise.
A helicopter was practicing emergency maneuvers above the sea.
For a reason still unknown to the experts...
it plunged headfirst into the sea.
It was then that Sentain's heroism came to the fore.
One person died.
Pierre, the Corsican.
That day, something overpowering took hold of my heart.
I thought about the end —
the end of me...
the end of Forestier.
Sentain, step forward.
Yes, sir!
Congratulations. You did your duty.
You acted with bravery, selflessness and resolve.
I'm proud of you, as is the entire Legion.
- Back in line. - Yes, sir!
Get in position!
Down, up, down, up...
Midway, up, midway, up...
Javanese Defense.
Well, then...
Going out of your way to make me squirm.
But I'll pull through.
How about this?
The game is starting to interest me.
I'm going to...
Just you try.
I told him to be careful about Sentain.
He answered,
"You put too much faith in appearances."
"No, Commandant.
He has something up his sleeve.
Don't say I didn't warn you."
Careful what you're saying.
Backstabbing isn't in the Legion's honor code.
Can I help you?
A Swiss newspaper.
In French.
From Geneva.
I don't want one that no one reads...
Feeling blue, Galoup?
I'm fine.
You're a rock, the epitome of the Legion.
Yeah, right!
Keep Sentain away from Forestier.
Go far from Djibouti with the guys.
Set up camp.
Say we're going to repair a road.
Move it on through.
Now all that is no more.
Those mountains and deserts are just things,
information stocked in my memory.
Now that I'm traveling this road through the past...
I'm sorry I was that man,
that narrow-minded legionnaire.
What did I see of wild camels,
of shepherds appearing from nowhere?
Women in bright colors in fields of stone, all those images.
It was an arid plateau overlooking the sea,
lined with the remains of workers' barracks.
We set up camp in this desolate terrain.
The three volcanoes.
Like sentinels.
Legionnaires! On my order...
dig!
You're a bottomless pit!
Get lost.
Shut up, faggot.
I have to eat. I have to.
Shut up and eat.
You're a real comrade.
Sentain,
you're in such good shape, you can clean the lavatory.
Ramadan began for three of my men.
They sat to the side as we ate.
Are six onions enough?
Add another one.
Make it tastier.
There must be a chip in Sentain's armor.
We all have a trash can deep within.
That's my theory.
I'll kill you!
Cosse! Tong!
Motherfucker!
Stop it!
Galoup?
Wake up, my boy.
Legionnaires!
On my order...
attention!
At ease.
Thank you, legionnaire.
How old are you?
Twenty-two.
Get along with your parents?
I don't have a mother. Or a father.
You know nothing of them?
No, sir.
I was found in a stairwell.
Found?
Fuck!
At least it was a nice find.
Keep at it.
I looked at the desolate Ghoubbet, thinking my black thoughts.
People tell many stories about this wasteland — the devil...
Hey, you Muslims!
...evil spirits, the evil eye.
Spaghetti with meat sauce.
It's great!
Let's see your food.
Delicious!
That stuff looks like coyote food!
Where's Combé?
He went to take a leak, sir.
He deserted his post.
No, he went to take a leak, sir.
He deserted his post.
Section! On my order...
attention!
At ease!
Dig.
You'll stop when I say so.
Fall out.
You'll be sorry, Sentain, believe me.
I see what you're up to.
We don't need guys like you here.
You're in my power.
I will destroy you.
I'll set my trap.
The compass...
the compass...
Bakka!
You're not African anymore. You're a legionnaire now.
That's unfair, sir.
See you soon, sir.
Say hi to the commandant.
Sentain never came back.
People said he deserted.
He could easily have crossed the mountains into Ethiopia.
1,000 francs.
Tierno recognized Sentain's compass.
For him, Sentain fell prey to someone's ill will.
Soon Forestier summoned me.
I said to him,
"Admit that you hate me for it."
You know the rules. You knew what you were in for.
You have no choice now.
Repatriation for disciplinary reasons.
Court-martial.
You'll be convicted.
Your Legion days are over.
All over.
- So? Is he your boyfriend? - Yes.
How are things between you?
We get along well.
Why are you smiling?
You make me laugh.
Goodbye and good riddance, Frenchie.
Don't ever come back.
But the Legion must be off, be off
Be off to go a-fighting
Jeannine, I'll be coming home
No question about it
But the bullets
All around me
Know no laws
Lost...
lost...
"Serve the good cause and die."