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The film echoes the landscape of war playing out across the Middle East |
Contemporary guerilla warfare may be driven by technology and modern lethal weapons of war, but the tactics that fuel the fire remain the same—as proved by the 1965 explosive classic, The Battle of Algiers. This intriguing film, revived for a three-week engagement in New York and other cities in the US, shows how one of the most incendiary films of the 1960s can still be a legitimate part of today's lifelike moviescape.
This black-and-white documentary-style film brings the 1950s Algerian fight against France for an Islamic state, to life. Beginning at the end, the film opens with an Algerian being tortured until he reveals the whereabouts of the legendary guerrilla leader, Ali La Pointe—the last of the four Muslim masters leading the fight.
Flashing back in time, we see Ali La Pointe as a misguided street youth playing card tricks on the streets for chump change. He is caught by the police and sent to jail, only to be attracted to the budding revolution during his time in prison. The three-year battle for an independent Muslim Algeria plays out through La Pointe's progression through the ranks of the movement to a leadership position.
But more compelling than La Pointe's story is the larger picture of a people's yearning for religious and absolute independence from a larger, seemingly indomitable opponent. This is a war fought in the back alleyways and the crowded cafés of Algeria. This is a war of the most unexpected warriors, where three Algerian women disguise themselves as chic Europeans to infiltrate crowded areas of the city and plant bombs—a foretaste of the chilling suicide bombers of today.
This is a war where the French Army uses ruthless means of torture and intellect to break down the resistance, systematically, cell by agonizing cell, until they execute the very last leader. But still the revolution smoldered—for the passion of religion and freedom never dies. And though in 1957 La Pointe (played by then newcomer Brahim Haggiag) was killed, the revolution arose from the Casbah to achieve Algeria 's independence in 1962.
The Battle of Algiers opened to accolades and awards in 1965. It won the Grand Prize at the Venice Film Festival and was nominated for three Academy Awards—Best Foreign Film, Best Director and Best Story and Screenplay. It was hailed in the US and Europe, but banned in France for its unfavorable depiction of French colonialism.
The film echoes the landscape of war playing out across the Middle East. It shows how endless faith and passion can fuel the need for independence against the largest, most ruthless countries. Furthermore, it shows how sneak tactics and the savage taking of innocent lives, plays out on both sides of the battlefield; because no one is safe and all strategies become fair play—so to speak.
According to the film's literature, The Battle of Algiers was screened at the Pentagon last August, to bring US officials up to speed on Baghdad. As former US National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski said in a press release, "If you want to understand what is happening in Iraq I recommend The Battle of Algiers."
The film does play as a big-screen showing of what could be happening in Iraq, Israel, Palestine and other hotspots around the world. Both Muslim Algerian and French fighters use whatever means necessary to advance their positions. It's a horrible, merciless bloody fight for victory, and victory comes at a hideous price.
Or, as an elder Algerian says to La Pointe at a critical moment in the film, "It's hard to start a revolution, harder to sustain it, hardest to win it and after that, the real difficulties begin." There reads the moral of the film.
What makes the film compelling is its production techniques, Pontecorvo and cinematographer Marcello Gatti painstakingly worked to bring a documentary-like feel to the movie with the use of telephoto lenses in crowd scenes and untested actors (many of whom fought in the original revolution).
Saadi Yacef, who plays leader El-Hadi Jaffer, and developed the idea for the film while in prison, fought for Algerian liberation himself. In fact, other than Jean Martin who plays French Colonel Mathieu, all the actors in the film are nonprofessionals. This unusual step adds to the rough authenticity of the film. To see this movie is to look into the eyes of a revolution where people truly believe that the end does justify the means.
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