Cinema
The Battle of Algiers
La battaglia di Algeri
Gillo Pontecorvo · 1966
Synopsis
Algiers, 1957. In the Casbah, French paratroopers surround the hideout of Ali La Pointe, one of the last leaders of the National Liberation Front still at large. The film then goes back in time: in 1954, Ali, an illiterate petty criminal, is recruited in prison by the FLN; then come the attacks on policemen, the repression, the bombs in the European city, and the arrival of the paratroopers of Colonel Mathieu.
Context
The film starts from the memories of Saadi Yacef, a former FLN leader in Algiers, who co-produced it with his company, Casbah Films, alongside Antonio Musu's Igor Film; the screenplay is by Franco Solinas. All the cast are amateurs, except Jean Martin, who plays the colonel; Ali La Pointe is played by Brahim Haggiag, an illiterate peasant, and Saadi Yacef plays his own role. Shot hand-held in the alleys of the Casbah, the film borrows no images from the newsreels of the time.
Who it is for
About two hours, in Arabic and French, in black and white; everything in it is reconstructed, despite the look of a news report.
Prizes and reception
Golden Lion at Venice in 1966 and three Oscar nominations; it was not released in French cinemas until 1971.
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