More a kick in the guts than a film, the Battle of Algiers is breathtaking stuff. Pontecorvo’s sleight of hand is such you can scarcely believe you’re not watching a documentary. Taking as his template the Italian neo-realism of Rosselini and De Sica he takes the use of non actors and crowd extras to a new level.
Released in 1966, when the political map of Europe was still being redrawn, it was a reminder of what some will do to throw off the yoke of colonialism. 130 years of French rule in Algeria was starting to unravel and the focal point was the legendary Casbah section of Algiers. No suave gangster Pepe Le Moko types here, just grinding poverty and a Muslim population trying to find meaning under the Western imposed values.
Even though the filmmakers sympathies lean towards the struggling Muslim insurgents, it’s notably avoids whitewashing their cause by avoiding some hard facts. The terror used on both sides is starkly portrayed and it’s a brave soul who’ll nominate the greater evil. The far left should have been given pause for thought when early on in the piece the rebel leaders decree a Sharia style law that condemns to death anyone who uses alcohol or engages in prostitution. A repressive and unjust law is one whether or not it invokes a celestial dictator or an earthly one.
The only actor who vaguely feels like he’s delivering a performance is Jean Martin as the French Colonel Mathias, sent in to restore order and subdue the rebellion. He mostly gets to trot out the Government line but is convincing and gets the tone right as he had experience as a paratrooper in real life. The only curious part I found was the rather perfunctory explanation of the final push for independance. The filmmakers more or less take the position that the resistance was crushed but then for reasons unknown found a revival underway a couple of years later that led to sucess. I doubt the actual history is that underdone? It feels more like they ran out of funding or time. maybe it had more in common with mainstream cinema than it would care to admit? Nonetheless a towering and memorable achievement who’s relevance (sadly as this struggle is still about) shows no sign of diminishing.