The Battle of Algiers Brahim Haggiag, Jean Martin, Yacef Saadi Director: Gillo Pontecorvo
The Battle of Algiers is that rare movie - a war film that is politically intelligent, historically accurate and dramatically engaging. Directed by Italian Gillo Pontecorvo, it details the struggles of Algerian revolutionaries to free the country from French colonial rule in the Algerian war (1952 to 1956).
An interesting twist results from the fact that although it has a relatively objective viewpoint, the film was co-produced by one of the victorious Algerian fighters, Yacef Saadi, who also acts in it. Algiers received a late burst of publicity a few years ago when it was screened at the Pentagon as part of a discussion on insurrectionist tactics and how to deal with them.
The Battle of Algiers divides into two halves. The first shows the rise of the Algerian rebels (the FLN), their tactics, and their reasons for resorting to violence. The second focuses on the methods the French troops use to try to quell the revolution. Shot in grainy black-and-white in Algiers - sometimes at the location of real events - the film has the look of a documentary. All but one of the characters, the French commander Mathieu, are played by amateurs. Many of the Algerians are reliving real-life experiences in front of the cameras.
The film depicts brutality by each side. Algerian women are shown blowing up a French bar that contains children. The French are shown torturing suspects and killing civilians in raids. The Algerians say that inducing terror among their enemies is the only way they can succeed in removing them from their country; the French are better armed and have war planes.
The French win the Battle of Algiers but lose the war, as the horrific events unite the population behind the idea of revolution.