Totally fascinating struggle for independence, a very raw film

Rating: 9/10 (13 June 2011)

This film is truly striking; it has the feel of an epos told inside a ghettoized district; the French as well as the Algerians are given their fair share of voice and sympathy, and you really don't know who to root for, unless you have a preference for the underdog or colonizer; both parties have their good reasons in this fight, both use dirty tricks and have a certain honor code and dignity towards each other. The film totally resembles Italian Neorealism with a war backdrop that becomes its own character.
The film really calls out your passion when you are viewing it and sucks you in; the writing is brilliantly realistic, the characters bold and diverse. A near-perfect film about guerrilla warfare and a god lesson for peace activists and extremists alike... it's one of the films where it's really up to the audience to give it a meaning and message.