The Battle of Algiers

The 1950's, and European empires are in decay. The French have lost Indochina ... the USA filling the vacuum in Viet Nam, seemingly oblivious to the defeat the elite of the French army suffered at Dien Bien Phu. In Algeria, there is pressure for the creation of a muslim fundamentalist state and independence from the colonial ruler. The French Right, meanwhile, is backing the many French settlers who have a vested interest in staying. The scene is primed for a civil war of the bloodiest character.

"The Battle of Algiers" opens with a scene of torture ... or shall we say, interrogation. A skeletal Arab has been coerced into giving information. He is dressed in French uniform (black man, white uniform, echoing Fanon) ... ensuring the French don't actually have to kill him themselves ... and paraded around while French troops raid Arab tenement blocks. Within, some of the leaders of the resistance are hiding. And so we drift into flashback mode - how did the protagonists come to be where they are? What is the back story?

You're already fascinated. This is a piece of historical analysis. This is a documentary turned into fiction, and a piece of fiction turned into documentary. The director, Pontecorvo, uses non-professional actors, hand held cameras and diffused lighting to enhance this impression of watching live newsreel footage from the heart of the war zone. The film is about Algiers, but it can symbolise any conflict between a colonial power and the colonised.

The struggle boils down to a battle between the terrorism of the rebels and the terror tactics of the French paratroops. We watch bombs being planted in crowded cafés; it is chillingly real. We watch the cat and mouse games of activists being pursued through the narrow streets of the Kasbah. We watch the impact this has on the bystanders - they are polarised to join one side or the other. One of the leaders of the insurrection comments that terrorism is only a first step - they have to mobilise the people to take action, to strike, to attack the economic base of the colonialists. Already, the resistance is not confined to a few fanatics - men, women and children are actively involved, and their ranks are swelling.

It is superbly paced, beautifully scripted, and astonishingly choreographed - the complexity of the crowd scenes, the rooftop coverage of a living city, the ordinariness of the faces, all combine to create a sense of realism. You feel as if you are there, as if the action is taking place today.

And you wonder why so many invaders have failed to understand what motivates people when they perceive their country as being invaded and their culture as being abused. The French paratroops extol the virtues of the French Resistance fighting the German occupation ... but cannot understand that the Arabs might see themselves as a legitimate resistance movement, not simply 'terrorists'. The paras, themselves, seem to have already forgotten what happened to them at Dien Bien Phu.

"The Battle of Algiers" presents a lesson in history. It also presents a lesson in film-making, for this is cinematography of the very highest quality. A film with no stars, without a glamorous subject, and seemingly dated in its subject matter, yet this is a film which will surprise you by its ability to grip and hold your attention. Beyond a doubt, one of the finest films I have ever seen.