AllMovie

A man struggles to defuse an explosive situation with tragic results in this drama based on actual events. In 1988, France was wracked with political division as Francois Mitterand and Jacques Chirac were campaigning for the presidency, with the incumbent Mitterand representing the political left and Chirac speaking for the right. After a band of Kanak separatists under the leadership of Alphonse Dianou (Iabe Lapacas) seize a police station on Ouvea Island, part of the French colony of New Caledonia, twenty-six officers are taken hostage and three are killed. Mitterand assigns counter-terrorism expert Capt. Philippe Legorjus (Mathieu Kassovitz) to deal with the situation, but while Legorjus and his associates attempt to negotiate for the freedom on the policemen, Chirac makes headlines by demanding that military force be used to take back the hostages. As Legorjus slowly begins to gain the trust of Dianou and a peaceful solution seems likely, public opinion in France sways to Chirac's favor and Mitterand is forced to consider more aggressive options. L'Ordre et la Morale (aka Rebellion) was directed by Mathieu Kassovitz, who also played Legorjus and helped adapt the screenplay from the Captain's memoirs.