An Astonishing and Authentic Examination of Terrorism

Rating: 9/10 (16 April 2007)

Wow, "The Battle of Algiers" really could have been made today, couldn't it?
I don't know if I should be comforted or disturbed that the events depicted in Gillo Pontecorvo's film so closely mirror those going on in the Middle East right now. On the one hand, it's comforting to realize that events and tensions that seem scary in the present day have been going on virtually forever, and that every generation has probably thought at some point that the world they lived in represented the human race at its lowest point. But on the other hand, it's disturbing to think that the same patterns have been repeating themselves for ages and we as a race just keep making the same blunders over and over again.
"The Battle of Algiers" chronicles in near documentary fashion the struggle of the Algerian Muslims against the imperialist French rule in the 1950s. Overwhelmed by the might and resources of the French military, a rebel group of Algerians resort to terrorist tactics to make themselves heard. Stuck in the middle are the everyday Algerian and French citizens, who die in bombings and attacks perpetrated by both sides, and are fed propaganda explaining how each side is working in their best interests.
There's a scene mid-way through the film in which a French military commander lectures a gathering on the personalities and philosophies of terrorist cells. He explains the terrorist cell structure, and how the best way to kill the cell is to cut off its head. Sound familiar?
Pontecorvo's film is engrossing, and one that will always (sadly) be relevant. His sympathies obviously reside with the Algerians -- the film ends with images of an Algerian uprising that occurred two years after the main events depicted in the movie, with Algerian people celebrating in the streets, waving flags and shouting cries of "freedom," "liberty" and such. But we do see the human cost and dubious morality of terrorist warfare, and the film fairly showcases the brutality inflicted by both groups.
"The Battle of Algiers" has an astounding authentic quality to it that makes it almost impossible to believe that this is a fictional film and not a documentary.
Grade: A