The Battle of Algiers

Produced by Casbah 1965 and distributed by Rizzoli in the U.S. 1967, black and white 35mm negative, 1.85:1 screen ratio, mono sound, 117 mins., Laserdisc released 1995, DVD released 2004.

Pontecorvo's film - trailer

Pontecorvo's film

General Massu and Col. Jeanpierre, CO of the 1st REP (with his back to the camera) during the real battle of Algiers, photo from Le Pen

Production:

Directed by Gillo Pontecorvo
Written by Gillo Pontecorvo, Franco Solinas
Produced by Antonio Musu, Yacef Saadi
Cinematography by Marcello Gatti
Film Editing by Mario Morra, Mario Serandrei
Sound by Alberto Bartolomei, Omar Bouksani
Production Design by Sergio Canevari
Set Decoration by Sergio Canevari

Cast:

Brahim Haggiag as Ali La Pointe
Jean Martin as Col. Mathieu
Yacef Saadi as Djafar
Ugo Paletti as Captain
Fusia El Kader as Halima
Mohamed Ben Kassen as Petit Omar

Notes:

The Battle of Algiers "details the struggle for Algerian independence from France. The film opens in 1957, as a tortured Arab prisoner informs against Ali la Pointe (Haggiag), the last surviving member of the FLN (Algerian Liberation Front). As French soldiers surround Ali's apartment, Colonel Mathieu (Martin) issues a final warning to Ali and his family: surrender or be blown to pieces. With the sides clearly laid out--revolutionary vs. colonial authority--the film shifts to 1954, as the Algerian conflict first develops. Photographed in grainy black and white to suggest the style of documentaries and TV news reports, The Battle of Algiers most closely resembles the neorealism of Roberto Rossellini and the revolutionary editing techniques of Sergei Eisenstein. Like Eisenstein, director Pontecorvo took his camera to the actual locations of the revolution, re-created certain events, and cast local nonprofessionals. Only Martin is a professional actor, while Saadi, the film's coproducer, plays an FLN leader--a character based on his real-life role as the organizer of the resistance and the military commander of the FLN. The content of the film has been attacked as being too inflammatory; it was reportedly used as a terrorist primer in the late 1960s. Yet it's entirely frank about its politics, something that can't be said of most Hollywood films. What makes the movie's power creditable is Pontecorvo's ability to present combatants on both sides as multidimensional, nonheroic human beings, even though it's obvious where the director's own sentiments lie. The film received the Golden Lion at Venice in 1966. Academy Award Nominations: Best Director; Best Foreign Language Film; Best Original Story and Screenplay." (TV Guide)

Sources:

Credits from the IMDB for the title The Battle of Algiers
Official site from Rialto Pictures includes links to review articles
Atkinson, Michael. "Rocket the Casbah. Louder than a bomb: A '60s masterpiece of agitprop returns with a newfound relevance," Village Voice, January 7 - 13, 2004. article
"Battle of Algiers," TV Guide, 2004. article
Camhi, Leslie. "Battle Cries. Fifty Years on, a Guerrilla Leader Revisits the Fight of His Life." Village Voice, January 14 - 20, 2004. article
Connelly, Matthew J. A Diplomatic Revolution: Algeria's fight for independence and the origins of the post-cold war era. New York : Oxford University Press, 2002.
Shrader, Charles R. The First Helicopter War: logistics and mobility in Algeria, 1954-1962. Westport CT: Praeger, 1999.
Talbott, John E. The War Without a Name: France in Algeria, 1954-1962. New York : Knopf, 1980.
Wall, Irwin M. France, the United States, and the Algerian War. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001.
Scott, A.O. "Searching for Modern Lessons in Films That Recall Old Wars." New York Times, Jan. 12, 2004 - article

revised 2/1/04 by Schoenherr | Filmnotes