Cinema
L'Évasion de Hassan Terro
Mustapha Badie · 1974
Synopsis
Algiers, 1957, the Battle of Algiers grows ever more violent. Hassan, a peaceful resident of the Casbah, is mistaken for a terrorist leader and arrested, and so he is nicknamed Hassan Terro. The French army then arranges his escape without his knowledge, hoping he will lead it to the leaders of the resistance. He finds himself outside, free in appearance, closely followed, and awaited on the other side by those he is supposed to betray.
Context
The character comes from the theatre: Rouiched had invented him for the stage, plays him again here and writes the screenplay. The national film office produces, colour is adopted, and the film is shot in the Casbah of Algiers. One hundred and fifteen minutes, a cast that mixes Algerian actors, including Sid Ali Kouiret and Chafia Boudraa, and French ones, with music by Philippe Arthuys. France only discovered the film in March 1976. The character returns after the first Hassan Terro, shot in black and white in 1968 by Mohamed Lakhdar-Hamina.
Who it is for
Nearly two hours of comedy, with no difficulty of access. It helps to know that the laughter is aimed at a war still going on, and that the main character never understands what he is being made to do.
Prizes and reception
A sequel to one of the country's greatest popular successes, the film fixed for a long time the figure of Hassan Terro, whom Algerian cinema was still citing in 1982.