A Powerful Film

Rating: Null/10 (17 December 2009)

"A revolution only lasts fifteen years, a period which coincides with the effectiveness of a generation." - José Ortega Gasset
Using hand held cameras, non professional actors and grainy film-stock, director Gillo Pontecorvo's "The Battle of Algiers" attempts to recreate the brutal urban phase of the French-Algerian war. Covering the period from roughly 1954 to 1957, the film is a masterclass in cinema verite. Indeed, the film seemed so "realistic" when it first premiered, that audiences had to be reminded with a disclaimer that it wasn't a documentary.
Proudly anti-colonialist, the film focuses on the Muslim Quarter of Algiers, also known as the Casbah, where a group of resistance fighters mobilize and fight against the French. But though we sympathise with the small band of revolutionaries and share their desire for independence (Pontecorvo deftly shows the injustices suffered by the Algerians under French rule), "The Battle of Algiers" is careful not to romanticise its rebels. Their bombs kill civilians, they murder innocents, and at times they are more savage than the French.
Ben M'Hidi, the leader of the resistance, himself articulates his disdain for violence. "Acts of violence don't win wars," he says. "Terrorism is useful as a start. But then, the people themselves must act. That's the rational behind this strike: to mobilize all Algerians, to assess our strength."
Today the film resonates with current events in the Middle East to such an extent that the US Defence Department screened "Algiers" at the outset of the Iraq invasion. What's sickening is that the Defence Department uses the film as a tool to teach how to clamp down on armed resistance. The film's larger point seems to have gone unnoticed by those in Power, the US' colonialist actions, be they in Iraq, Vietnam, or across much of Latin America and Asia over the past century, echoing France's actions in this film.
More interesting, though, are the documentaries included on the film's recently released Criterion DVD. In one documentary, Pontecorvo revisits Algeria in an effort to see how far the country has come since its independence. Unfortunately, he is disappointed with what he sees.
As oil revenues declined in the late 80s, Algeria's governing regime no longer had the funds to bolster its dreams of modernization. As a result, an increasingly disillusioned middle class (despite a rise in university degrees, there was little upward mobility as many of the prestigious jobs were still held by the French) turned to more extreme Islamist parties who promised to return Algeria to its "Islamic roots". The ideals of these extremists were at complete odds with the FLN (The Front De Liberation Nationale), the coalition of rebels we see defeating the French in the film. The FLN, though they relied on religious forces and symbols to mobilize the population behind the cause of independence, ultimately viewed religion from a utilitarian perspective, sufficient for mass mobilization but inadequate as a template for governance.
So with faith in the FLN shattered, voters turned to more extreme parties, all of whom threatened to create a kind of totalitarian form of Islam. And it is this which Pontecorvo seems to fear the most. With the engineered destruction of Marxism-Lenism, fundamentalist Islam became the world's leading anti-American ideology. The US, ironically, has been the largest supporter of psycho Islamic movements. From their perspective, better psycho dictators in power, than actual egalitarian movements.
So the Algeria Pontecorvo revisits seems to be one that has shut itself off from the world and become deeply suspicious of foreigners and non-Muslims. It is a country faced with many economic and social problems, suspicious of all "western styled" government models. (Pontecorvo's doc was made in the late 80s. Today Algeria has shrugged off its nationalist roots and embraced the free market)
Of course Pontecorvo makes it clear in the documentary that there is a distinction between Islam (a religion) and fundamentalist Islam (an ideology). One can oppose the ideology while respecting the faith. Secondly, he stresses that meaningful change is always slow. When asked about women being forced to wear veils and the terrible economic problems in some areas, the director states that it will take decades of revolution for things to improve. The point he makes is not to interfere. To let people decide their own fate and forge their own national identities.
8.5/10 – Though its "documentarian" style lacks the power it once had, and though realist works always suffer from a certain directness (everything communicated bluntly, little to ponder or absorb after etc), this is a powerful and influential film. Pontecorvo followed "Algiers" up with "Burn!", an even greater picture. See Costa Gavras' "Z". Worth two viewings.