"Survival of the fittest" -- the driving force of terrorism

Rating: 10/10 (13 June 2011)

It is so critical to be the leader irregardless of which side you are on. I felt as if both the French in particular Col. Mathieu and the FLN leaders, the Algerians were forced to engage in evil in order to create some form of good that is deeply rooted with freedom as well as cultural identity. Behind the uprising for the Algerians lies nationalism and behind the French lies the ideals of colonialism.
Overall the movie was truly brilliant and well thought out. This is one of my favorite movies of all time in cinema. It really opened my eyes to the art of film making. The ability, creative force and dedication that is required in order to produce a real work of art was clearly behind this particular film. I admire this film mostly because the footage looked very realistic as if they were the "real deal", having known that all the shots were recreated and not archival just impressed me moreover. Also I am so astounded and fascinated by the ideology and issue of war as depicted in this film. I even ended up writing my research paper in English class regarding terrorism mainly inspired after watching this film.
It makes me wonder what truly drives terrorism and war itself. Out of all the movies I've seen in my college film class, this one is the only one that truly struck me the most. When one watches this film, one can't help but think about the ethics of war and people's ethical responsibility when one is faced to deal with it. At certain scenes such as when Algerian women would drop the bombs in public places that were surrounded with a great deal of civilians, I can't help but feel that helplessness for the civilians. Then again when I see scenes like the French blatantly disrespecting Algerian culture such as the scene when an Algerian couple had to marry in a rush in secrecy because they are not allowed to get married in their native tongue, I can't help but also sympathize as to why they are trying to revolt against the French.
One of the reasons why this film is so moving is because it is not biased. As a viewer, you get to see both sides of the coin. Many would most probably side with one side, but I could not. I really believe that this film is something future generations can refer to in terms of critically analyzing the roots of war and terrorism. Obviously terrorist acts like 9/11 should not be condoned but we must try to at least understand it at a deeper level. This film has so many implied lessons that we can learn from. From tactical lessons of acquiring success like empathizing with the enemy or perhaps proportionality in terms of the outcome of people's actions.
At the end though I just can't help but trace myself back to human nature and Chrales Darwin's theory of evolution: "Survival of the fittest". I think that partly the reasons for war lies in human nature's biological component of trying to adapt with change also it's human nature to feel such strong emotions that more often than not result to disputes or disagreements. It is not a question why this film should be watched. It MUST be seen that's the bottom line.