The Battle of Algiers

In 1954, the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) launched its bid to end 120 years of French colonial occupation in Algeria. Based on actual events - although not with... more >

In 1954, the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) launched its bid to end 120 years of French colonial occupation in Algeria. Based on actual events - although not without its moments of dramatic licence - The Battle of Algiers chronicles three years of insurrection and repression with such cine-veracity that the producers felt the need to append a caption at the end of the opening titles assuring viewers that `not one foot' of documentary material had been included.
Released just four years after Algeria had secured its independence from France, Gillo Pontecorvo's film has lost none of its power to shock and provoke. Indeed, it's been given renewed relevance by recent events in the Middle East. Some may see an irony in the decision of the United Nations not to intervene back in the mid-1950s, leaving France to conduct a pitiless and unpopular rearguard in the face of terrorist assault. Others may find justification for current tactics (on both sides of the debate/war), while others again might lament at humanity's inability to learn from the lessons of history. But what remains incontrovertible is the technical and dramatic skill that enabled Pontecorvo to create one of the most emotive political films ever made.
Pauline Kael compared the propagandist impact of The Battle of Algiers with Leni Riefenstahl's The Triumph of the Will. She even accused Pontecorvo of being that `most dangerous kind of Marxist, a Marxist poet'. She may have had a point about socialist agit-prop being afforded a cinematic and socio-political respectability that has always been denied right-wing film-making. But surely a more useful comparison could be made with Roberto Rossellini's Rome, Open City (1945), which was also made on location, with a largely non-professional cast in a neo-realistic style that owed more to newsreel than studio artifice.
However, Pontecorvo avoids the melodramatics of Rossellini's film by presenting the victims of both the bomb blasts and the reprisals as genuinely innocent people rather than the faceless casualties of a revolutionary or imperialist cause. Consequently, the lingering shots of unsuspecting individuals before the carnage are every bit as disturbing as those depicting the rebels being tortured by Jean Martin's military. Pontecorvo's sympathies may be evident, but his conviction and condemnation are not devoid of compassion.
Despite winning the Golden Lion at Venice and being nominated for three Academy Awards, the film was banned in France for five years. It's this contentiousness on which its reputation still rests. But it also has a vigour, a commitment and an intelligence that is absent from too much modern cinema.
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View all 89 of David Parkinson’s reviews

Here's some welcome news. A new label, Argent Films, is to release fully restored DVD versions of classic films by some of Europe's greatest and most respected directo... more >

Here's some welcome news. A new label, Argent Films, is to release fully restored DVD versions of classic films by some of Europe's greatest and most respected directors: forthcoming releases will include works from luminaries such as De Sica, Visconti, Godard, Ferreri, Fellini and the Taviani brothers. Argent's first release is one of the most influential of modern films: The Battle of Algiers is director Gillo Pontecorvo's astonishing documentary-style account of the 1954-62 Franco-Algerian conflict - a nominee for numerous awards and winner of many. As relevant today as ever, the film was screened internally this month by The Pentagon (as a direct result of the challenge by terrorist tactics and guerilla warfare currently being faced by US forces in Iraq). Whether or not Pontecorvo would welcome this move is open to debate, but it demonstrates how cutting-edge the film still is. Ennio Morricone's powerful score is another distinct plus. < less

View all 346 of Barry Forshaw’s reviews

Possibly the most compelling indictment of Colonialism, all the more convincing for its admirable integrity and gripping documentary-like realism. more >

Possibly the most compelling indictment of Colonialism, all the more convincing for its admirable integrity and gripping documentary-like realism. < less

View all 51 of John Davies’s reviews

This is a Region 1 DVD and will not play on a standard UK DVD player. Please note that you are responsible for any import duty or taxes more info

DVD Extras

• 3 discs. DISC 1: The Battle of Algiers: New high-definition digital transfer, enhanced for widescreen televisions
• Production gallery
• Theatrical and re-release trailers
• New and improved English subtitle translation. DISC 2: Pontecorvo and the Film: Gillo Pontecorvo: The Dictatorship of Truth (1992): a 37-minute documentary, narrated by literary critic Edward Said
• Exclusive 51-minute documentary on the making of The Battle of Algiers, featuring new interviews with the director, cinematographer, composer, editor, actors, and film historians
• Five Directors (17 mins, 2004): Spike Lee, Mira Nair, Julian Schnabel, Steven Soderbergh, and Oliver Stone on the film's influence, style, and importance. DISC 3: The Film and its History: Remembering History (69 mins, 2004): an exclusive documentary that reconstructs the Algerian experience of the battle for independence, featuring interviews with historians and revolutionaries, including military leader Saadi Yacef

Film Details

Cast

Jean Martin, Brahim Haggiag

Technical Details