Media type Print | Publication date 1931 Originally published 1931 Genre Thriller | |
Similar L'Ancre de miséricorde, Les clients du bon chien jau, A Handbook for the Pe | ||
Synopsis
After committing a murder in Paris, Pierre Gilieth flees to Barcelona. Now destitute he enlists in the Spanish Foreign Legion. Despite his fatalistic manner, he begins to fit in with his fellow comrades as they embark for Morocco to fight in the Riff War. Once in North Africa he falls in love and marries a local cabaret singer. His new life brings him a happiness he has never before known, but his past slowly catches up with him. He eventually seeks personal redemption by volunteering to join the doomed garrison of an outpost in the Atlas Mountains.
Adaptation
In 1935 the novel was turned into a film La Bandera which was largely faithful to the book. It was directed by Julien Duvivier and starring Jean Gabin as the Legionaire and Annabella as his wife. The film was made in the poetic realist style.