The Battle of Algiers (1965)

The Battle of Algiers (1965), directed by Gillo Pontecorvo, is an Algerian film which is about the Algerian War of Independence against the French. The Algerian revolution, recognized as "the bloodiest revolution in history", was a long and hard-fought war for both the Algerian FLN (the National Liberation Front) and the French troops who occupied their land. Much blood was spilled and many lives were lost as the Algerians fought for independence and the French fought for control. The French troops, lead by Colonel Mathieu, would go to such lengths as torture to retrieve information vital to them while the Algerians did whatever it took to fight back, including many public bombings. Eventually, after a seemingly endless cycle of chaos and destruction, the Algerians finally won their independence.

The Battle of Algiers holds a timeless lesson. The circumstances of the war holds many similarities to our country's current situation in Iraq. Like the French troops in the movie, our army is invading a country and taking over where it is neither wanted nor necessary. If the movie proves one thing, it is that war produces so many unecessary casualties and it just is not a good thing for either side. In war, no matter what the outcome, both sides actually lose a great deal.

The Battle of Algiers was not a very enjoyable movie to watch. I usually do not mind black and white films too much, but the same can not be said for this one. Since all dialogue was in French, the whole movie was subtitled for English viewers. The text for the subtitles, however, was all in white, which was very difficult to read against a mostly white background. This made it difficult to follow the story. Not only that, but the audio was of poor quality. There was also a lot of skipping around in place and time, which made it confusing at times.

However, there were aspects of the movie I did enjoy. One thing I noticed were a few interesting and neat transitions from one scene to the next. For example, in one scene, there was a large explosion, followed by a giant cloud of smoke. Suddenly, the movie switched to the next scene with a sudden cut of the music that was playing to go along with the rubble and all of the other disastrous aftermath of the explosion.

Another thing I thought of was that this movie must have been a huge production for its time, especially for an Algerian film. Everything just seemed to be on a massive scale. A large number of extras were used since much of the movie took place outdoors in the city streets. The locations the movie was shot in also seemed to be on an epic scale. Lastly, all the explosions which were used throughout the story appeared to be quite an impressive feat to pull off for its time. All these postivie qualities which went along with a solid, historical, and meaningful story made the Battle of Algiers more tolerable to watch, although I doubt I would want to sit through it again.