Retrospective Reviews: The Battle of Algiers

Retrospective Reviews: The Battle of Algiers
by Steve Finkelstein

Lately, I’ve been bitching about the paucity of good film product in theatres during the winter months. This has driven me to a DVD store near my digs in West L.A. called Laser Blazer, which has been acclaimed as having one of the largest and most eclectic DVD selections in the country. Imagine my surprise when I stumbled onto a 40 year old Italian-Algerian film which is not only one of the best foreign films I’ve ever seen, but one of the best films I’ve ever seen, period. Let me fill you in on this serendipitous event with a review of the film:

The Battle of Algiers: When Italian director Gillo Pontecorvo’s film premiered in 1965, it stirred a hornet’s nest of controversy. It deals with a vicious and ruthless guerilla war spanning the years between 1954-1962, when Algerian “terrorists” (or if you will, “freedom fighters”) initiated a “war of liberation” to free themselves from French colonialism. When the film was initially released, the French found it so inflammatory they banned it from their screens for 30 years. At the same time, the Vietnam War was beginning to escalate, and the film’s parallels to that conflict are undeniable.

What attests to the film’s enduring greatness is that it has even stronger parallels to the current war in Iraq. This was borne out last year when the film was re-released on the revival circuit (the film played in L.A. a year ago, and I could kick myself in the head for missing it; would have loved to have seen this on a big screen with a crowded audience) when the Pentagon issued a request for a print of the film to study terrorist tactics! This is understandable, because the film is amazingly realistic, looking more like a documentary than a feature film.

Amazingly, though, not one foot of documentary footage was used in the film. The impression of it being a documentary is due to director Pontecorvo’s brilliant staging—not only does the film carry a potent political message for our times, but it’s one of the most exciting and exhilarating films I’ve ever seen. Pontercorvo is a genius at staging intense and violent action scenes, putting himself up there with such American masters as Sam Peckinpah (Wild Bunch) and Don Siegel (Dirty Harry).

Another factor in this film’s greatness is that Pontecorvo is very even-handed in his depiction of the Algerians and the French, alternately portraying them as sympathetic and brutal. The film’s musical score was a collaboration between Pontecorvo and the great Italian film composer Ennio Morricone (The Untouchables), and it is pulsating and powerful, adding much to the film’s impact.

The Battle of Algiers is being released on DVD on a three-disc set by Criterion Films, a company that specializes in the release of excellent foreign films. While the Pontercorvo film is on the first disc, on the second is a fascinating documentary on Pontecorvo himself. He started directing films in his mid-30s, and seems to have approached directing more as a hobby than an avocation. His next film after The Battle of Algiers was Burn!, which was released four years later in 1969. It turns out that he had problems with the films distributor, United Artists, and the film’s notoriously temperamental star, Marlon Brando. Apparently because of this, he gave up the ghost, and has directed few films ever since. It’s a shame because Pontecorvo has great talent and possibly could have turned out more fine films. I could say more about this great three-DVD set, but why should I spoil it? All I have left to say is, rent this film!

The Battle of Algiers would have been on my earlier list of favorite foreign films if I had seen it before I had compiled that list. This reminds me—sometimes, while in the state of manic intensity under which I pound these articles out, I tend to omit things. Here are three more films I would put on my earlier list, which all come highly recommended:

Alexander Nevski (Russian, 1938, Sergei Eisenstein)
Mr. Hulot’s Holiday (French, 1953, Jacques Tati)
Seven Beauties (Italian, 1976, Lina Wertmuller)

See ya soon.

Steve can be reached at steve@babblog.com.