A visual "Fantonian" experience!

Rating: 10/10 (13 March 2008)

The theme of Battle of Algiers is universal in nature: The struggle between the "occupied" and their "occupiers". It chiefly deals with what the great social scientist Franz Fanton termed in his classic The wretched of the earth, "the pitfalls of national consciousness"  colonialism. While it seeks to depict the colonial strife between the native Algerians and their French occupiers, what makes this film so potent even today is its ability to transcend global barriers; it could apply just as well to the Palestinian problem, to Afghanistan, our very own monumental struggle against the British Raj, or to any of the classic Latin American standoffs that pit a US-backed rightist government against Marxist left-wing guerrillas  be it Nicaragua or El Salvador.
The film depicts an important segment in the Franco-Algerian colonial strife  the urban skirmishes between the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) and the French paratroopers between 1954-1957, commonly known as the "Battle of Algiers".
It opens with the brutal interrogation of an FLN member by the French paratroopers, who is tortured into giving the whereabouts of Ali La Pointe, an important FLN fighter. We next see the roll of credits while French paratroopers are storming the Kasbah (The native Arab quarter) with a view to surround Ali La Pointe with Ennio Morricone's riveting martial soundtrack hammering away in the background. The next frame shows Ali being asked to surrender or face death by dynamite. The screen then dissolves on a pensive Ali and the viewer sees the story gradually unfold in the form of a flashback.
This astounding opening sequence sets the standard for what is to follow for the remainder of the film. Director Gillo Pontecorvo, himself a man of the left, was greatly influenced by his mentor Roberto Rossellini's Paisan(1946), which made great use of "naturalism". Along with Marxist writer Franco Solinas, Pontecorvo fashioned a screenplay which would be enacted by natural actors  not big name stars (in fact, with the exception of the French Paratroop Colonel Mathieu, played by stage actor Jean Martin, the rest of the cast is entirely made up of non-professionals!).
This, coupled with the usage of 16 mm hand-held cameras gave the film a stunning feel of "realism" which is usually brought about by a documentary film  especially in the mob scenes with the Algerian women chanting hysterically. As a result, this led to many viewers and critics being confused as to whether this film was a documentary or not containing several reels of footage. (The producers as a result, proudly put a general disclaimer on the film stating not a single reel had been used)
Pontecorvo and Solinas strongly took the median path when dealing with the politics of the French and Algerian sides, though polemically siding with the FLN. The film documents the brutalities of the French paratroopers  as is evident in chilling scenes depicting torture by using blowtorches and half-drowning victims in their efforts to decapitate the FLN, while balancing those with the terror tactics of the FLN  as in the bombing of French public places of leisure and entertainment. The objective nature of the film, its sanctimonious attitude towards truth, and its supercharged atmosphere of political awareness have undoubtedly inspired future filmmakers like Costa-Gavras, Marcel Ophuls and Oliver Stone.
For instance, we see in the best works of Costa-Gavras like Z and State of Siege, a frenetic tension and sense of political urgency which makes one aware of the reality of time and place in which one is living in.
And as for timeliness and reality, Battle of Algiers is an uncomfortable reminder of the Iraqi occupation, posing important questions on colonialism, imperialism and the relationship between the "occupier" and the "occupied".