"We aren't madmen or sadists, gentlemen we are soldiers and our only duty is to win."

Rating: 8/10 (23 October 2007)

When 'La Battaglia di Algeri {The Battle of Algiers}' premiered in the United States in 1967, it carried a disclaimer, assuring the audience that "not one foot" of actual newsreel footage was used in the compilation of the film. This should give you some idea of the picture's startling documentary-realism. It's plain that director Gillo Pontecorvo began his career producing documentaries, and it is thoroughly exciting to see him exploit his knowledge of the medium to achieve incredible resonance through its brutal and frank depiction of an anti-colonial revolution. There are countless moments when you could swear that Pontecorvo made use of historical footage; surely such a passionate rally comprising hundreds of people could not be recreated so flawlessly for the screen. The camera sits amid the protesting civilians, is jostled by the crowd, reacts frantically to the spatter of machine gun fire, and trembles with each horrific street bombing. Accompanying these images booms a suspenseful musical score, composed by both the director and the great Ennio Morricone.
'The Battle of Algiers' recreates the Algerian War of Independence, from November 1954 to December 1960, focusing entirely on the capital city of Algiers. Unsatisfied with remaining a colony of France, a selection of determined civilians (Brahim Hagiag, Yacef Saadi  the latter playing a fictional version of himself) form the National Liberation Front (FLN), who sought to reclaim their independence through acts of terrorism and bloody violence. The escalating bloodshed leads to the introduction of French paratroopers, led by Colonel Mathieu (believed to be a combination of real-life officers Colonel Bigeard and General Massu, and played by Jean Martin). In a bid to combat the frequent street-bombs and police officer shootings, Mathieu employs any possible means, including lynch mobs, murder and harrowing methods of torture. The colonel's justification for ordering these acts is chillingly simple: "should we remain in Algeria? If you answer "yes," then you must accept all the necessary consequences."
Another element for which 'The Battle of Algiers' has been praised is its relative lack of bias. Though the end of the film betrays an unmistakable support for the rebels' cause (an unsurprising outcome considering that it was partially funded by the Algerian government), it is often difficult to decide for which side you should show sympathy. Perhaps it was just my post-September 11/Bali bombings mentality coming through, but, having entered the film without any background knowledge, I spent much of it cheering for the charismatic Col. Mathieu and his paratroopers, hoping that they'd quickly and efficiently destroy those cowardly, café-bombing terrorists. Unlike other seemingly-similar revolution pictures (such as Eisenstein's 'The Battleship Potemkin (1925)'), 'The Battle of Algiers' doesn't attempt to push any clear agenda: every character on each side possesses a staunch inability to accept defeat; every character achieves great things and every character commits acts of violence too horrifying to even imagine. There are no clear-cut heroes and villains here; everybody is a hero and everybody is a villain. This is the way that life is. This is a revolution at its most truthful.