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DVD The Battle of Algiers - Criterion Collection
Director Gillo Pontecorvo's 1966 movie The Battle of Algiers concerns the violent struggle in the late 1950s for Algerian independence from France, where the film was banned on its release for fear of creating civil disturbances. Certainly, the heady, insurrectionary mood of the film, enhanced by a relentlessly pulsating Ennio Morricone soundtrack, makes for an emotionally high temperature throughout. Decades later, the advent of the "war against terror" has only intensified the film's relevance.
Shot in a gripping, quasi-documentary style, The Battle of Algiers uses a cast of untrained actors coupled with a stern voiceover. Initially, the film focuses on the conversion of young hoodlum Ali La Pointe (Brahim Haggiag) to F.L.N. (the Algerian Liberation Front). However, as a sequence of outrages and violent counter-terrorist measures ensue, it becomes clear that, as in Eisenstein's October, it is the Revolution itself that is the true star of the film.
Pontecorvo balances cinematic tension with grimly acute political insight. He also manages an evenhandedness in depicting the adversaries. He doesn't flinch from demonstrating the civilian consequences of the F.L.N.'s bombings, while Colonel Mathieu, the French office brought in to quell the nationalists, is played by Jean Martin as a determined, shrewd, and, in his own way, honorable man. However, the closing scenes of the movie--a welter of smoke, teeming street demonstrations, and the pealing white noise of ululations--leaves the viewer both intellectually and emotionally convinced of the rightfulness of the liberation struggle. This is surely among a handful of the finest movies ever made. --David Stubbs
Review(s): DVD The Battle of Algiers - Criterion Collection
The Battle of Algiers (1966) - Gillo Pontecorvo
The Battle of Algiers is a mixed bag of both cinematic venture, and amateur acting. Director Gillo Pontecorvo's choice of using mostly non-professional actors was both a blessing and a curse. The unfamiliar faces helped create more of a "realistic feel" the film is known for, but many times the acting is laughable, taking the viewer out of the film entirely. The film's best quality is the nice location shooting, and it's universal belief of the powers of revolution. Unfortunately the quasi-documentary style never sustains itself throughout the film and it becomes a rather unrealized picture of political cinema. The Battle of Algiers is noteworthy because it attemped more than the usual "Hollywood" artifact.
As real as it gets
The filming alone makes you feel uneasy, it's a very powerful film. well written and directed, at times it's a bit rough but it's all real and it's bound to remain in your thoughts forever.
Very powerful
This film is shot in the documentary format and shows the struggle for independence in the late 50s and the horrors of that struggle. Although this film has repeatedly been recommended to me, I have hesitated watching it as I didn't think a documentary in French (with English subtitles) would be that captivating. I was surprised by how riveted I was to this film.
One of the striking parts of this film was the reliance on torture to get information from the resistance movement. After seeing pictures from Abu Ghraib, these scenes are especially haunting. Even though the comments made by the French paratrooper colonel regarding "interrogation" make some sense, I could not escape the feeling of unease at the use of such tactics.
Throughout the film, I found myself understanding more and more of the anguish on each side of the struggle. I would highly recommend watching this film.
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