Cinema
The Opium and the Stick
L'Opium et le Bâton
Ahmed Rachedi · 1971
Synopsis
During the war of independence, in a village in the mountains of Kabylia, most of the inhabitants have joined the independence movement, and the French army sets out to break their resistance, at the risk of destroying the village. Caught between the fighters and the troops, each person must choose a side: some join the maquis, like Ali, others compromise themselves with the occupier. The film follows this divided community and what the fight for independence costs each of them.
Context
The film adapts the novel that Mouloud Mammeri had published in 1965; the writer wrote the screenplay with the director. A state production, shot in Arabic and French, it brings together Marie-José Nat, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Sid Ali Kouiret, under the lighting of Rachid Merabtine, and runs for two and a quarter hours. Dated 1969 by some filmographies, which give the year of its completion, it was released in Algeria in July 1971.
Who it is for
A feature-length war film of one hundred and thirty-five minutes, easy to approach, based on an Algerian novel about the struggle for independence.
Prizes and reception
Presented in competition at the Moscow International Film Festival in 1971; regarded as a classic of Algerian war films.
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