The First Man

The First Man

2011 · 101 min · ★ 6.5 · Drama

Based on a novel that Albert Camus was working on when he died, we follow Jacques Comery as he travels back to Algeria in 1957, a place full of childhood memories. The country is split between those wanting to remain a part of France, and those demanding independence. Reminiscences of his mother, his stern grandmother and a young Arab boy come flooding back.

Directed by Gianni Amelio · Written by Gianni Amelio

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Streaming

Anni Duemila Amazon Channel

Rent or Buy

Apple TV StoreAmazon Video

Cast

Make it a double feature

3h 19m together

The First Man

Alì Blue Eyes

Both from Gianni Amelio.

More from Gianni AmelioSee all →

The Stolen ChildrenThe Stolen Children · 1992
The Stolen Children
★ 7.61992
MovieDrama
Antonio, a policeman (carabiniere), has an order to take two children (Rosetta and her brother Luciano) from Milan to Sicily to an orphanage. Their mother has been arrested for forcing Rosetta (11 years old) to work as a prostitute. First the relation between Antonio and the children is tough, but it relaxes so they become temporary friends.
Open DoorsOpen Doors · 1990
Open Doors
★ 7.31990
MovieDrama
Tommaso Scalia is a man who commits three murders: he kills his superior who sacked him, the man who replaced him and his wife. He wants a quick trial and an early execution, but an earnest, principled assistant judge looks for a way to save the murderer from being shot, because he does not belive in capital punishment.
Lord of the AntsLord of the Ants · 2022
Lord of the Ants
★ 7.22022
MovieDramaHistory
Based on true events of the late 60s in Italy, poet, playwright and myrmecologist Aldo Braibanti is prosecuted and sentenced to prison for the love he shares with his barely-of-age pupil and friend, Ettore. Amidst a chorus of voices of accusers, supporters and a largely hypocritical public, a single committed journalist takes on the task of piecing together the truth, between secrecy and desire, facing suspicion and censorship in the process.
LamericaLamerica · 1994
Lamerica
★ 7.21994
MovieDrama
In post-communist Albania, two Italian con artists establish a fictitious shoe factory to embezzle government funds. When their elderly Albanian figurehead disappears, the younger accomplice sets out to find him, embarking on a journey that confronts him with the country's poverty and troubled past.
The Cinema According to BertolucciThe Cinema According to Bertolucci · 1976
The Cinema According to Bertolucci
★ 7.01976
MovieDocumentaryTV Movie
Documentary on the filming of Novecento by Bernardo Bertolucci
The Seven Cervi BrothersThe Seven Cervi Brothers · 1968
The Seven Cervi Brothers
★ 6.91968
MovieWarHistory
The story of the Cervi family. Rural farmers brought up to be idealogically opposed to fascism during the era of Mussolini's rule of Italy and World War 2.
The Missing StarThe Missing Star · 2006
The Missing Star
★ 6.82006
MovieDrama
Vincenzo, former head of maintenance of a steel plant that's been outsourced, travels from Italy to China to warn about a defective blast furnace.
The Way We LaughedThe Way We Laughed · 1998
The Way We Laughed
★ 6.81998
MovieDrama
Studying to become a teacher in 1950s Northern Italy, Sicilian immigrant Pietro is joined by his big brother Giovanni. Pietro shows considerable promise in his field, prompting illiterate Giovanni to take on even the toughest jobs in order to support his sibling's academic pursuits.
No PainNo Pain · 2026
No Pain
★ 6.82026
MovieDrama
Davide’s life is turned upside down by a tragic event for which he bears an unwitting responsibility. Devastated by guilt, he is driven to a series of seemingly irrational choices that gradually lead him toward profound consequences. Yet, through his deep emotional bond with Elsa, Davide may still find an unexpected path to peace.
The Keys to the HouseThe Keys to the House · 2004
The Keys to the House
★ 6.52004
MovieDramaFamily
Meeting his handicapped son for the first time, a young father attempts to forge a relationship with the teenager.
Almost a ManAlmost a Man · 1966
Almost a Man
★ 6.51966
MovieDrama
A young writer descends into madness. Alienated, neurotic, and plagued by guilt, Michele retreats from reality, loses interest in work, and comes to the brink of suicide before being sent to an asylum for shock therapy. Escaping from the asylum, Michele returns to his boyhood home, where he learns the reasons for his present mental state.
Via Panisperna BoysVia Panisperna Boys · 1989
Via Panisperna Boys
★ 6.51989
MovieDramaHistory
The enthusiasms, fears, joys and disappointments of the (private and professional) life of a well-known group of boys fond of physics and mathematics, who just made history as the Via Panisperna boys.
Blow to the HeartBlow to the Heart · 1982
Blow to the Heart
★ 6.51982
MovieDrama
The son of a university professor discovers his father's secret life and has to decide what to do about it.
BattlefieldBattlefield · 2024
Battlefield
★ 6.42024
MovieDramaHistory
These are the years of the First World War and Dr. Stefano Zorzi spends his days in the Exemption Clinic in a large city of Northern Italy, where he not only takes care of soldiers who arrive from the massacre of the front, but also he fights simulation and self-harm of those who hope to be dispensed, by sending them before the Military Court. If Stefano, in fact, does his utmost to heal soldiers and send them back to fight, Dr. Giulio Farradio makes them ill, or helps them to self-injure seriously enough to be exonerated. The two doctors, who went to university together and were great friends, they not only (secretly) challenge each other on a professional level, but also on the sentimental one: they are both linked to Anna, a courageous nurse with a strong character. But when the great ‘Spanish’ fever epidemic arrived in 1918, the time for love, politics and science ends up getting confused dangerously...
Alì Blue EyesAlì Blue Eyes · 2012
Alì Blue Eyes
★ 6.42012
MovieDrama
Ostia, outskirts of Rome: the beach in winter. Two sixteen-year-old boys steal a scooter at 8 in the morning, then rob a store, all in time for getting to school at 9. Nader is Egyptian, but was born in Rome. Stefano is Italian and his best friend Brigitte, Nader’s girlfriend, is also Italian, but for this very reason Nader’s parents are against the match, and Nader runs away from home. The film describes a week in the life of a teenager who tries to subvert the values of his own family. Torn between his Arab and Italian identity, audacious and in love, like the hero of a contemporary fairy tale, Nader will have to put up with the cold, the loneliness, life on the street, hunger and fear, the flight from his enemies and the loss of his friends, before he can really understand who he is.
TendernessTenderness · 2017
Tenderness
★ 6.32017
MovieDrama
Back from the hospital where he has been treated after a heart attack, Lorenzo is on his way upstairs to his top-floor apartment in Naples when he meets Michela. The charming young woman, who has just moved to the facing apartment, has forgotten her keys and finds herself locked out. Cynical and grumpy, the retired lawyer who has been living estranged from the rest of the world, should normally leave her to her fate but he mellows under her spontaneous charm. He helps her, becomes friends not only with her but with her husband Fabio and their two children. For once, the self-declared misanthropist seems to be experiencing the long forgotten feeling of empathy.

More Like This

Couldn't load this row right now.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter