Battle of Algiers Film Research

By: Gayathri and Tulika

Q3) What might this film tell us about the political-historical moment it was made (not
just what it is about)?
● The Battle of Algiers ​is about the Algerian/FLN (national liberation front) fight against France for
independence, though this focuses on the early years in the urban environment (by the late
1950s-early 1960s, the struggle became a much wider insurgency across the country).
● Algeria became independent from France in 1962. This movie was made in 1965-66 and released
in August 1966.
● The period of the late 1950s-1960s is when most (not all) African countries achieved
independence from European imperial powers. So, the movie covers a specific independence
struggle, but still comes out within Africa's independence era as a whole
● Algeria was ruled by a part of France, but Muslim Algerians were denied a lot of the rights that
Europeans were given. This included not being able to vote, higher taxes and segregation (Global
Ethics Corner, 2009, p.1)
● It is specifically based on the events of the rebels in the Algerian war at the time
● It was the subject of a lot of socio - political controversy and for this reason, the film was not
screened for 5 years after its release in France which was in 1971
● The tactics that were used by the FLN guerilla insurgency were depicted in the film as they were
quit horrific incidents as it was shown that both the colonizer and the colonized both committed
heinous acts towards civilians
● After the release of the movie, the events portrayed in it put pressure on the FLN and the French
government to cooperate. They signed the Evian Accords in 1962 which passed the referendum to
declare an official cease-fire between the countries (Global Ethics Corner, 2009, p.6)
● Algerian Nationalists began to from in 1930 and united under the name of FLN who then
launched guerilla attacks on the French government – they were considered freedom fighters
(Global Ethics Corner, 2009, p. 3)
● Some Muslim Algerians however did not fight for independence, they were called Harkis and
joined the French army (Global Ethics Corner, 2009, p. 4)

Q4) Why and how was this particular film made then and by whom, in terms of the
political economy of film-making?
1. What's the backstory to each film? How and why did it get made at that time?
● The movie is shot in black and white with documentary type editing to add to a sense of
historical authenticity
● The movie takes place in the capital city of French Algeria between November 1954 and
December 1957 during their war for independence
● The movie follows a small group of rebels within the FLN and their charismatic leader
names Ali La Pointe who use any means necessary to get the French to leave their
country (Global Ethics Corner, 2009, p. 1)
 ● The torture scenes in the film are presented in a way that allows for no self-conscious
emotional affect or drama even though the acts shown are very heinous. There is no
human connection to these scenes as they are filmed in montages rather than single
scenes to dwell on. This part of the movie looks like a scene from military training film
because the director is trying to showcase that torture not for the pain it caused but the
strategy they used (Bradshaw, 2007, p.2)
● The villain in the film: Colonel Mathieu (Bradshaw, 2007, p.12)
○ Entrusted by the French government and was determined to overpower the Arab
quarters that were fighting against the regime
● In early 1962 Gillo Pontecorvo and Franco Solinas (co-screen writer) went to Algiers as
fake journalists and approached senior members of the FLN who helped them approach
people and zones that were affected by the war. This led to some of the portions of the
movie being filmed in a documentary style (Benkhaled, 2012, p.3)
● Pontecorvo has stated that the script was based on “thousands of eyewitness accounts,
documents and photographs” (Bankhaled, 2012, p. 6)
2. What was the critical and audience response at the time of release?
a. Critical response: most of the critical responses were overwhelmingly positive. The
movie has a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 85 reviews, and 95% on Metacritic
based on 22 critics. The film was nominated for 3 Oscars and won various prestigious
critics awards around the world, with many critics praising the film for its complex
portrayal of its protagonists and refusal to romanticise events.
b. The film was banned in France by the government for five years after considerable
political controversy was instigated by its release and repeated threats of violence from
fascist groups. The French people were polarized in opinion over the Algerian War
(Whitfield, 2012).
c. Audience response: the film gained a reputation in the late ‘60s for instigating political
violence and giving armed groups such as the Black Panthers and the IRA (Matthews,
2011). It was also shown in military colleges in courses on counter-revolutionary warfare,
as well as the Pentagon during the war in Iraq (Whitfield, 2012).
3. Why are these films viewed as important both in terms of film history as well as postcolonialism
(as historical moment and critical thought)?
a. Battle of Algiers is seen as a landmark film in that it was the first available to the French
population that directly addressed French colonial imperialism (Bernstein, 2006). It is
also regarded as a seminal film in the commentary on urban guerrilla warfare, as well as
the colonial powers’ efforts to contain it (using illegal methods such as torture)
(Whitfield, 2012).

Works Cited
Bernstein, A. (2006, October 16). Film Director Gillo Pontecorvo; 'Battle of Algiers' Broke Ground.
Retrieved July 14, 2019, from
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/15/AR2006101500892.html
Benkhaled, W. (2012, December 20). ​Genesis of a film: the Battle of Algiers​. Retrieved July 2019, from
Open Democracy: ​https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/genesis-of-film-battle-of-algiers/

Bradshaw, P. (2007, May 11). ​The Battle of Algiers​. Retrieved July 2019, from The guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/may/11/drama.worldcinema

Matthews, P. (2011, August 10). The Battle of Algiers: Bombs and Boomerangs. Retrieved July 14, 2019,
from ​https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/342-the-battle-of-algiers-bombs-and-boomerangs

Whitfield, S. J. (2012, March 13). Cine Qua Non: The Political Import and Impact of The Battle of
Algiers. Retrieved July 14, 2019, from ​https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/5006#ftn18

Vocke, W. (2009, May 5). ​Ethics on Film: Discussion of "The Battle of Algiers"​. Retrieved July 2019,
from Carnegie Council for ethics in international affairs:
​https://www.carnegiecouncil.org/publications/ethics_onfilm/0005