Opium and the Stick

Opium and the Stick (1970)

September 14th, 19702h 17min

Action, Drama, War
76%

Overview

In 1950, in Algeria, in a village in Kabylia, Algerian resistance fighters resisted the French occupation army. Bachir returns to the village to escape the clashes ravaging Algiers. In Thala, he has two brothers, Ali and Belaïd. The first is engaged with the ALN (The National Liberation Army) and fights against the colonizer. His second brother, Belaïd, the eldest, is convinced of a French Algeria. His family torn apart, Bachir decides to join the war and takes sides against the repression of the French army. The French army is trying in vain to turn the population against the insurgents by using disinformation. The more time passes, the more the inhabitants of the village and surrounding areas, oppressed, rally to the cause of the FLN, their houses and their fields will be burned... Adaptation to the cinema of the eponymous novel Opium and the Stick, published in 1965, by Mouloud Mammeri, the film was dubbed into Tamazight (Berber), a first for Algerian cinema.


Make sure to check your pop-up blocker!!

Trailer

Similar Movies

The Color Purple

The Color Purple


Released on: 1985-12-18
Drama, History

An epic tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the Sout...

The Professional

The Professional


Released on: 1981-10-21
Action, Adventure, Thriller

French secret service agent Josselin Beaumont is dispatched to take down African warlord N'Jala. But...

A Son of the Sahara

A Son of the Sahara


Released on: 1924-04-13
Adventure, Drama

As a boy, Raoul is reared by an Arab tribe in Algerian Sahara. Years later, as a refined Europeanize...

The Great Bazaar

The Great Bazaar


Released on: 2006-06-02
Drama

Two boys with different experiences and goals meet up in a sprawling African market. One is looking ...

Palm Trees in the Snow

Palm Trees in the Snow


Released on: 2015-12-25
Drama, History, Romance

Spain, 2003. An accidental discovery leads Clarence to travel from the snowy mountains of Huesca to ...

True Chronicles of the Blida Joinville Psychiatric Hospital in the Last Century, when Dr Frantz Fanon Was Head of the Fifth Ward between 1953 and 1956

True Chronicles of the Blida Joinville Psychiatric Hospital in the Last Century, when Dr Frantz Fanon Was Head of the Fifth Ward between 1953 and 1956


Released on: 2025-07-23
History, Drama, Documentary

1953, colonized Algeria. Fanon, a young black psychiatrist is appointed head doctor at the Blida-Jo...

Once Upon a Time in China III

Once Upon a Time in China III


Released on: 1993-01-14
Action

Master Wong and his disciples enroll in the 'Dancing Lion Competition' to stop an assassination plot...

The Passenger

The Passenger


Released on: 1975-02-28
Drama, Mystery, Thriller

David Locke is a world-weary American journalist who has been sent to cover a conflict in northern A...

Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold

Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold


Released on: 1986-12-17
Adventure, Action, Comedy, Mystery

After his brother Robeson disappears without a trace while exploring Africa in search of a legendary...

The Lion King II: Simba's Pride

The Lion King II: Simba's Pride


Released on: 1998-10-24
Family, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Romance

The circle of life continues for Simba, now fully grown and in his rightful place as the king of Pri...

N'Diangane

N'Diangane


Released on: 1975-01-02
Drama

This film presents a harsh critique of the Koranic teaching through the tragic story of a small tali...

Another Sky

Another Sky


Released on: 1954-01-01
Drama

After a puritan youth, a young English woman discovers her sensuality in North-Africa.

Gorillas in the Mist

Gorillas in the Mist


Released on: 1988-09-23
Drama, History

The story of Dian Fossey, a scientist who came to Africa to study the vanishing mountain gorillas, a...

Faces of Women

Faces of Women


Released on: 1985-01-02
Drama, Comedy

At a festival, a chorus of women sing and dance as two stories unfold. In a village, a young women w...

The Exile

The Exile


Released on: 1980-01-02
Drama

Based on a traditional African tale. A king has the habit whilst walking in disguise on the streets ...

Saitane

Saitane


Released on: 1973-01-02
Drama

A sorcerer (played by the director himself) controls all activities in a village. Manipulating the d...

Goï-Goï

Goï-Goï


Released on: 1995-01-02
Drama

A dissolute man whose wife cheats on him seeks revenge to preserve his honor.

Watani: A World Without Evil

Watani: A World Without Evil


Released on: 1998-01-02
Drama

Two men of different backgrounds lose their respective jobs, setting off a series of events that bri...

Boubou cravate

Boubou cravate


Released on: 1972-01-02
Drama, Comedy

An African diplomat who has returned to his native country after a long stay in Europe realizes that...

Tale of an Encounter

Tale of an Encounter


Released on: 1985-01-02
Drama

Two deaf and dumb children. She is the daughter of an American Oil engineer. He is the son of an Alg...