La battaglia di Algeri (1966)

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Director:

Gillo Pontecorvo

Writers:

Gillo Pontecorvo (writer)
Franco Solinas (writer)

Release Date:

20 September 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Tagline:

The French Colonel...who was forced even to torture! One of the many women...who stopped at nothing to win! The Algerian Street Boy...who became a rebel hero!

Plot:

An account of the bloodiest revolution in modern history.

Plot Keywords:

Bomb | Independence | Government | Torture | Revolution

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 7 wins

Cast

Brahim Hadjadj	...	Ali La Pointe (as Brahim Haggiag)
Jean Martin	...	Col. Mathieu
Yacef Saadi	...	Djafar (as Saadi Yacef)
Samia Kerbash	...	One of the girls
Ugo Paletti	...	Captain
Fusia El Kader	...	Halima
Omar
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mohamed Ben Kassen	...	Petit Omar
Michele Kerbash	...	Fathia (uncredited)
Franco Morici	...	(uncredited)
Tommaso Neri	...	Captain (uncredited)
Gene Wesson	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Gillo Pontecorvo

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Gillo Pontecorvo		writer
Franco Solinas		writer

Produced by
Antonio Musu	....	producer
Yacef Saadi	....	producer
Fred Baker	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Ennio Morricone
Gillo Pontecorvo

Cinematography by
Marcello Gatti

Film Editing by
Mario Morra
Mario Serandrei

Production Design by
Sergio Canevari

Set Decoration by
Sergio Canevari

Costume Design by
Giovanni Axerio		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Maurizio Giustini	....	key makeup artist
Hamdi Mohamed	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Nour Eddine Brahimi	....	production manager
Lakhdar-Toumi Edine	....	production supervisor
Abdenour Essed	....	production supervisor
Sergio Merolle	....	production manager
Rolando Pieri	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Moussa Haddad	....	second assistant director
Giuliano Montaldo	....	second unit director
Fernando Morandi	....	assistant director

Art Department
Tarcisio Diamanti	....	construction coordinator (uncredited)

Sound Department
Alberto Bartolomei	....	sound synchronisation
Omar Bouksani	....	sound technician

Special Effects by
Aldo Gasparri	....	special effects (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Belkacem Bazi	....	assistant camera
Nazzareno Belardinelli	....	gaffer
Silvano Mancini	....	camera operator
Alfredo Marchetti	....	key grip
Ali Maroc	....	assistant camera
Claudio Racca	....	camera operator: second unit

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Giovanni Axerio	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Lina Caterini	....	second assistant editor
Anna Maria Montanari	....	first assistant editor

Music Department
Bruno Nicolai	....	conductor

Other crew
Margherita Autuori	....	unit publicist (as Rossetti)
Alfredo Di Santo	....	production secretary
Alfredo Di Santo	....	script supervisor
Enrico Lucherini	....	unit publicist (as Lucherini)
Mario Maestrelli	....	administrator
Matteo Spinola	....	unit publicist (as Spinola)

Production Companies

• Igor Film
• Casbah Film (co-production)

Distributors

• Argent Films (2003) (UK) (all media)
• Maiden Voyage Pictures (2007) (UK) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Rialto Pictures (2004) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Rizzoli (1967) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• Encore Entertainment (1995) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Globo Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Madman Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2005) (New Zealand) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Warmflash Productions Ltd.  trailer

Also Known As:

The Battle of Algiers (UK) (USA)
Maarakat madinat al Jazaer (Algeria: Arabic title)

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

Italy | Algeria

Language:

Italian | French | English | Arabic

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Brazil:14 | Norway:16 | USA:Not Rated | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Finland:K-16 | France:(Banned) (1965-1971) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video rating) (1993) | UK:X (original rating) | West Germany:16 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Algeria

Company:

Igor Film

Trivia:

This film was shot like a documentary. It was very rarely shown in France until recently, and the torture scenes were cut in the US and UK.

Goofs:

Continuity: Ali's first assignment is to assault a police officer. During this, the cop's hat falls to the ground, and the position of the hat changes between cuts.

Quotes:

Col. Mathieu: The word "torture" doesn't appear in our orders. We've always spoken of interrogation as the only valid method in a police operation directed against unknown enemies. As for the NLF, they request that their members, in the event of capture, should maintain silence for twenty-four hours...

Movie Connections:

Featured in Remembering History (2005) (V)

An unforgettable study of occupation and defeat.

In 1962 after more than 130 years of French colonial rule, Algeria became independent. Gillo Pontecorvo's `Algiers' shows the decade leading to that liberation in a powerful story about Muslims asserting their rights through violence, hiding, and plotting in the Kasbah, a demiworld of narrow, winding, seemingly endless alleys that are the only protection the rebels have from the eyes of the French. The re-release of the 1965 black and white film is a convincing story of a people who do not want to be occupied and will give their lives so their families can one day be free.

The story centers on a couple of Muslim leaders, the charismatic Col. of the French forces, and the bombings and shootouts that at one point averaged just over 4 per day. The film's sympathy is for the Muslims, but the Colonel has moments of reflection that could be sympathetic, especially with the revelation that he was a member of the resistance in WWII and may have suffered in a concentration camp. The director shows the influence of Italian neo-realists like Roberto Rossellini (`Paisan') by shooting in documentary style on location, using non-actors (except for the Colonel), and generally avoiding an agitprop angle.

But the film's sympathy in the end belongs to the occupied people. When 3 rebel women change appearance to look French, infiltrate, and plant bombs, the irony obvious to American audiences in their current struggle is a tribute to the strength of the narration and characterization and the universal dislike of occupation and subjugation.

The torture of the Muslim prisoners is the most poignant relevance to the recent scandal in Iraq. The Colonel's justification for the practice to gain life-saving information is classic `ends-justify-the-means' logic still being used by great nations. In fact, the Pentagon reportedly had seen this film during the first days of the second Iraq War; some say they learned nothing from the film, which is an unforgettable study of occupation and defeat.