The extraordinary 2010 film Of Gods and Men, by the French director Xavier Beauvois, depicts the kidnapping and murder of nine Trappist monks in Algeria by Islamic fundamentalists in 1996. In one of its most memorable moments, an old tape machine plays Tchaikovsky's Grand Theme from Swan Lake while the camera focuses on the monks drinking red wine as they contemplate their impending martyrdom.
The atmosphere of dread in that moment is matched by the abiding serenity of the Trappists, made all the more powerful by the fact that the events of the film actually happened.
Eight years on from the release of the film, there is now the added poignancy that the real-life monks depicted in the movie are soon to be beatified by the Church as martyrs and role models. It is a message of hope in the Resurrection for this Easter season and always.
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