Deserter (2002)

Paul Fox: Simon Murray

Photos 

Quotes 

• [first lines] 

  Simon Murray : [narrating]  Many people have asked why I joined the French Foreign Legion. And there is no clear answer. I was going nowhere is a hurry. I hadn't told anyone the English Army turned me down. I was fresh out of ideas. So I went in search of a different destiny.

• Simon Murray : [narrating]  Even Errol Flynn had been in the Legion. What more of a recommendation did I need?

• Simon Murray : The truth is, I just stood and watched those sadist beat him. What kind of a man does that make me?

  Pascal Dupont : A sensible one.

• Simon Murray : I wish that I had attended university. There's so much I'd like to learn.

  Imam : I miss the days when the students crowded these rooms. Now they have better things to do. They fight the French. But when the madness ends they will come back, because madness does not last. And the life of the soul is eternal.

• [last lines] 

  Simon Murray : [narrating]  People never tire of asking me why I joined the Legion. It's taken some time to come to terms with those five years. But now I tell them that I discovered it's not about testing yourself to the limits. No finding out about your mental self. It's really all about finding your soul. It's about getting off the path, for that is where the freedom lies. So I say, do not follow where the path might lead. Go instead where there is no path, and leave a trail.