Powerful film decades later

Rating: 10/10 (18 November 2010)

"The Battle of Algiers" is a stunning black-and-white film which tells the story of the violent clashes between Algerian Nationalists and their French Colonial rulers in the 1950s, but mostly tells of the rise and fall of the spirited 1957 resistance campaign. At several times I wondered if I was watching documentary footage, as this obscure film achieves tremendous realism with expansive casts of extras, sparse music, excellent crowd sound and on-location shooting. At many times it does feel closer to documentary than scripted drama as it follows many stories, but chiefly that of Ali la Pointe, an illiterate petty criminal who becomes radicalized in prison and rises to the upper echelons of the resistance. The movie shows atrocities committed by both sides and doesn't seem to show undue sympathy for either, a remarkable accomplishment for any film, let alone one made so soon after the events and on such an emotionally charged topic as colonial resistance and terrorism.
At some points the film rivals the great scenes of any crime and war movie as we see the characters on both sites execute their plots, be it paratroopers storming a rebel hideout or female bombers infiltrating hangouts in the European Quarter. The pacing is a bit slow at times, at least compared to the just-for-entertainment greats of the genre like The Godfather or Goodfellas, where this film's 5+ minute female bombers sequence would be shaved down to a minute and set to orchestral or rock music. The slow pacing, even if it's to a bit less exploitative music, does come off as a weak point of the movie, but one must remember that this movie is conveying meaningful emotion and real-world lessons, it's not just showing us people committing intricately planned acts of violence because it looks cool on screen.
Much is said about how those real-world lessons of the movie, especially as the subject is Islamic terrorism against white occupiers. If there's a better movie about an insurgency and guerrilla resistance, I haven't seen it. While I think it's foolish to act as if seeing this movie will give one all the answers about the terrorism question, it's certainly something you should be able to see and accept before you start spouting off opinions about dealing with terrorism - or counter-terrorism.