The Colonel

France, 1993. The retired Le colonel Raoul Duplan is shot in his home. As the police are baffled, a young army officer Le lieutenant Galois is brought in to help the investigation. Shortly thereafter she receives a letter containing diary pages from Le lieutenant Guy Rossi, who served in 1955 in the Algerian War under Le colonel Raoul Duplan and disappeared in 1957 under mysterious circumstances. The diary becomes a thread that binds present events to Rossi’s memories, sending the narrative back and forth between the present and the hidden history of the Algerian conflict.

As Galois reads Rossi’s diary, the film flashes to stark black-and-white sequences that document Rossi’s experiences in the war: he witnesses torture and public executions, and he wrestles with a desire for peace while repulsed by the brutal methods used to secure it. He inadvertently reveals information to a friend sympathetic to the rebels, which may have contributed to the murder of a shopkeeper who provided information to the French army. Ordered by Le colonel Raoul Duplan to command a firing squad, Rossi resolves to disobey his superior’s orders. He leaves the diary with a friend, intending that Le père Rossi would receive it.

A recent appearance on TV by Duplan prompts the friend to deliver the diary to Rossi’s father. When confronted by [Le lieutenant Galois], the elder Rossi reveals that he has been the one sending the diary and that he killed the shopkeeper because Duplan expressed no remorse for his son’s murder, justifying himself by accusing Rossi of treachery. The film ends on an ambiguous note as [Le lieutenant Galois], an army officer, lacks the authority to arrest the elder Rossi, and as she drives away from the interview, she seems moved and chooses to have lunch with her commanding officer rather than return to the office.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 15:11