24 out of 26 people found the following review helpful:

Rock the Casbah!!!

Gonzo Soul from Shoulder to Shouler, Woodbridge, 14th May, 2004

Talk about ahead of its time!!! This films was one of the first portray arabs as not shifty, lowlifes but as heroes.
I loved the grainy photography, the editing and the Morricone soundtrack is sparse and rhymic.
Anyone who loves non-Hollywood classic will be fascinated in this film.

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23 out of 44 people found the following review helpful:

Hollywood! Watch and Learn.

christhecat from Herts, 29th February, 2004

This beautifully shot; documentary style drama is a truly great piece of cinema. The Battle of Algiers holds nothing back in delivering a ferociously visceral account of Algeria’s struggle for independence. The decisions to shot and edit with a documentary style make the events on the screen feel like they are happening today and we the audience feel like we are not only in the front row of a cinema but on the front line in the Kasbah. Stirring performances from non-professional actors pack an emotional wallop and the audience’s allegiance to the LFN (The Algerian’s) is closely conflicted by the surprisingly noble French Para’s, personified by Lieutenant Mathieu. Overall, a tenderly handled, truly gorgeous view of the inevitable conflicts that arise through colonialism. And it has to be said, as clichéd as it is; they just don’t make them like they used to.

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9 out of 9 people found the following review helpful:

A wonderful and moving film

Phil22 from Kent, 4th February, 2004

A wonderful and moving film shot in documentary/Pathe newsreel style about this largely forgotten episode in recent history. Using amateur actors. Also worth watching the interview with the director. Recommended

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8 out of 8 people found the following review helpful:

Quite Astonishing

FrankIV from , 3rd May, 2005

Although set in a particular place and time, this film applies to every situation in which political conviction, religious belief, patriotism, a sense of duty and feelings of grievance lead people into taking positions which seem to justify horrific acts which escalate.

The events are observed with apparent detachment, lack of bias and an unflinching camera, recorded and shown as they unfold with a terrible logic. Both sides of the dispute are given voices which express their opinions and explain their actions, but the film does not fall into the trap of personalising them as characters. The photography and presentation look completely authentic, and it is often difficult to know whether one is watching staged events or newsreel.

This is very powerful, horribly topical and should be seen by all who express opinions about colonialism, revolution and war. It's relevance is timeless.

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Hearts and minds

Leni from , 1st March, 2010

No suicide bombers here as such, but there are still gruesome similarities with Iraq and Afghanistan. The FLN were fighting for an independent Islamic Algeria, and the French were fighting because the alternative would be to leave their North African colony. The film is matter-of-fact in its newsreel-like depiction of the violence that started in the mid-50's and ran on till Algeria was granted independence in 1962. At the end I found there was no side to take in a bloody and cruel conflict from which we do not appear to have moved very far forwards.

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SUPERB...

A Customer from Rep Of Ireland, 17th February, 2010

Dont waste your time reading reviews...GO RENT THIS FILM NOW...you wont regret it. How can north African history be this much fun!

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Unique portrayal of anti-colonial uprising

redzed from , 9th February, 2010

The Battle of Algiers is a film that can't be compared to anything, as it arose out of a specific moment in both cinematic and political history. Directed by Gilles Pontercorvo, Algiers is a relentlessly unsentimental portrayal of the Algerian War, as the National Liberation Front (FLN) sought the country to break away from French colonial rule. The film's documentary-style aesthetic (trademark of Italian cinema at the time) is perfectly suited to this film, which aims to show the brutal realities of a guerrilla-style conflict rather than force the viewer into taking sides. As well as showing the FLN to be brave and willing to sacrifice anything for their country, there is also a sense of unnecessary loss of life and mindless violence on their part. Equally, while the French Colonel Mathieu seems determined to spare the insurgents' lives where possible, he is also happy to use torture as a means of extracting information, rightly claiming that the enemy would do the same thing. The bass-heavy musical score does a good job of supplementing the pained expressions of torture victims, or images of dead civilians being carried out of bombed restaurants. Yet what ultimately sticks is the documentary look of the whole film, as it ominously seems to anticipate the media-covered subsequent wars in Vietnam, Kosovo and Iraq; this aesthetic is supplemented by the camera's frequent close-ups focus on people's faces, which simply stare helplessly into the camera, aware but uncaring of its passive presence. Its through this aesthetic - which conveys the lawlessness and human costs of war - that Battle of Algiers will always remain a momumentally important film; its stylistic innovation makes it possibly the best ever study of war in cinema.

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1 out of 1 people found the following review helpful:

A Nation struggles for Freedom!

Charles Brickley from Andover, Hampshire England, 17th November, 2009

It took an Italian Director (Gillo Pontecorvo) to make this brave film about the French Army fighting Algerians in the final years before independence was granted to their former colony in North Africa. 'La battaglia di Algeri' was apparently banned for a while in France as the events depicted had taken place less than ten years before the film was made. There are some excellent reviews of this special movie which was made in a semi documentary style, made more authentic by being filmed in black and white. The scenes are very realistic and there is no real attempt to take sides, merely show how futile the mutual aggression was. It's edited in a fast moving and dramatic fashion and the score by Ennio Morrecone is haunting and appropriate. Jean Martin is dramatic as the ruthless Colonel Mathieu who realises that no matter what success his anti-terrorism tactics have, they will eventually fail to subdue the native protests for freedom from France. This is a must watch for anyone interested in this post World War II struggle for independence in the Algerian civil war, only surpassed by Anthony Quinn’s performance in ‘Lost Command’, also made in 1966. Definitely worth the cost of a DVD hire and two hours of your time.

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