OFF LIMITS

Raisons d'Etat

Director Isabelle Benkemoun, Francis Allegret / 1991 / France

In the fight between the torturer and the tor­tured, the stake is never simple. It is not only that of revealing a secret, it is the loss of self-possession. Because torture aims to get hold of the secrets of speech, thought and body, every­thing becomes transparent. In this process, the tortured are marked forever, having lost a part of themselves.

This film begins the dialogue of three sur­vivors of torture. For Karinkan, talking about it is a way of re-enacting his story. Fanny nursed wounded activists in Chile; telling the story is painful "because there are things that belong to me." Said was 13 years old when he was arrested in Algeria. He agrees to "live again" his story, searching for a meaning in his life. ♦ Gregory Miller

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