It not a substitute for a text book

Rating: 8/10 (11 September 2013)

I still don't know what to make out of "Battle of Algiers". It focus to much on the few terrorists in the beginning and that the french military was just protecting the europeans (maybe with an iron fist, but it isn't shown).
There is no story development to show how live was in the colony at that time and how intrusive the actions of police and the french empire conflicted with simple people. This makes it a bit difficult to get the context for of the reason for the uprise. Maybe this is because the movie was made so soon after the events and out of fresh memory that the writers saw no reason to talk about it.
The Algerien war was very bloody and the french troops were doing everything else then obeying human rights but amazingly no comment about that. Don't understand why an algerian movie isn't putting this on their agenda.
And finally i find that the most interesting part - after the initial group is defeated - and a peoples mass movement starts is just shown in less then 10min in a news summary style. I have to guess again, maybe because mass scenes were just not financial possible to recreate with the small budget of this film.
Conclusion: A nice movie to watch with good cinematography that deserves it 8 star rating here on IMDb but gives too little political information and leaves the average viewer without and increased understanding.