Still the best film ever

Rating: 10/10 (22 July 2006)

I watched this film for the first time in the 1970s, and again on DVD last night.
For me it is still the best film I have ever seen: technical originality together with a subject and treatment which portray and illuminate issues. Unfortunately, terrorism, counter-terrorism, revolution, torture and Islam, which were seen in Algeria fifty years ago, are still on the agenda in 2006.
On the DVD, Pontecorvo explains in an interview how he recreated the effect of newsreel footage. Every scene was staged for the film, and every detail choreographed; even the bright sunlight of Algiers was softened with white sheets. The result is a visual masterpiece which stands the test of time.