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The Algerian War, a truly objective history of the momentous struggle for independance from France by the Algerian people between 1954 and 1962. Unique historic footage has been gathered from both sides, much of it never before seen. The cameras were free to roam in both countries and many of the interviewees speak frankly for the first time of their role in the struggle. This was an eight year conflict that caused the fall of sis French Prime Ministers and the collapse of the 4th Republic. It returned Gaulle to power, but also almost saw his demise and twice brough civil strife to mainland France. Certainly brutal and horrifyingly nasty, it resulted in the deaths of at least a million Moslem Algerians and the ejection from their homes of an equal number of European settlers. Pitiless terror, monstrous cruelty, flagrant torture, indiscriminiate violence was countenanced by both sides. But it was also a heroic and tragic affair; the last and most significant of the old style colonial wars. The prize was a country 10 times the size of Britain, 300 miles wide and stretching 1300 miles from the blue Mediterranean to the harsh desert, forbidding in many ways, but rich in oil, gas and people.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
I have been 'bitten' by buying too many disappointing, badly-made DVD's on military history. This is the exact opposite! I was encouraged by the excellent reviews by The Times & The Telegraph. It is an epic documentary made by Peter Batty for Channel 4 in 1984 that consists of 5 films (in chronological order, dealing with the different phases of the war from 1954-1962). It is superb; it provides a very balanced and most coherent view of this most complex & vicious conflict that will satisfy both pundit & student alike. It interviews French settlers in Algeria ('les pieds-noirs'), members of the French Armed Forces, politicians from both sides, the FLN and even members of the dreaded OAS (who very nearly killed President de Gaulle on more than occasion). Many expert commentators are consulted including Alistair Horne who wrote A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954-1962 (New York Review Books Classics), the best book on the subject and well worth buying as a companion to this excellent 2 disc DVD set, Also another essential purchase for those interested in the Algerian War is The Battle For Algiers (Criterion Collection #249) 3 disc Director Approved s.e..
If you, like me, are fascinated by France & French history, this war is well worth studying as it was to have an extremely profound effect on shaping modern France. For a foreigner such as me (British) to comprehend the war, one has to recall that for the million French settlers living in France and for the French government & Army, Algeria was not seen as a distant colony (like Indochina) but an integral part of Metropolitan France with Prefects & Departments. Equally one should also recall that many members of the FLN (the armed Algerian resistance movement fighting for independence) had fought for France with great gallantry in WW2 and not unreasonably expected their freedom from French control on returning to their homeland.
If you, like me, are fascinated by France & French history, this war is well worth studying as it was to have an extremely profound effect on shaping modern France. For a foreigner such as me (British) to comprehend the war, one has to recall that for the million French settlers living in France and for the French government & Army, Algeria was not seen as a distant colony (like Indochina) but an integral part of Metropolitan France with Prefects & Departments. Equally one should also recall that many members of the FLN (the armed Algerian resistance movement fighting for independence) had fought for France with great gallantry in WW2 and not unreasonably expected their freedom from French control on returning to their homeland.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
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There's precious little material available in English on the Algerian war of independence but fortunately of what there is, both this documentary series and (as a previous reviewer has pointed out) Alistair Horne's book 'A Savage War of Peace' are pretty much definitive. 'The Algerian War' is a balanced and informative picture of a very complex saga and my only (very minor) gripe is that the interviewees aren't identified with captions. This painful chapter in French history certainly makes an interesting comparison with the British retreat from Empire; we scuttled away as quickly as possible whilst the French fought tooth & nail against the tide of history, although the real mystery is how the French ever persuaded themselves that an African country with a 10% European minority could be an integral part of France.
3 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Eventhough the documentary is very good by providing real black & white archive footage of the occupation of Algeria by the French Colonials together with interviews of those involved in the war, the makers of this DVD failed to indicate a single name of those people interviewed. You see the interviewees talk but it's not indicated what their names are or what they were involved in.
Also the author of this DVD tried to equal the conflict between the two sides. Comparing on the same level the burning of civilian villages with Napalm, French torturing suspected Algerians "terrorists", with that of a people seeking independence from an occupation that lasted 132 years.
What this DVD does not mention is that almost 50 years on, Algerian civilians are still dying from mines that the French army has left in many places in Algeria.
Also the author of this DVD tried to equal the conflict between the two sides. Comparing on the same level the burning of civilian villages with Napalm, French torturing suspected Algerians "terrorists", with that of a people seeking independence from an occupation that lasted 132 years.
What this DVD does not mention is that almost 50 years on, Algerian civilians are still dying from mines that the French army has left in many places in Algeria.
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