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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
wonderful, 8 December 2001
Author: doe (a3xx) from france

I saw this movie several times with the same pleasure each time, it is about the struggle for freedom of the Algerian people, and the huge sacrifices made by them to gain independence and liberty, for whom who are interested in knowing some of the glorious history of Algeria, this film is a bible, and for those just interested in freedom struggle this movie is a reference.

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2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Algerian Independence epic., 10 March 2005
10/10
Author: Mozjoukine (Mozjoukine@yahoo.com.au) from Australia

This massive historical piece gives the impression of being the launch of the great French Arab movie tradition but people closer to the source might know better.

There are stories of harsh conditions on the production but the result is imposing and spectacular.

We follow the life of one Algerian who sees history overtake him and becomes involved in the independence movement. Not the least intriguing scene is the one where his neighbors have a secret WW2 radio receiver but prove to be listening not to Winston Churchill but to Adolf Hitler because they know he is against the French. The progressive element are shown as considering the whole European war as a digression.

Most powerful scene shows the succession of events concerning the construction of a dam which dries up the community's water. All this is the stuff of culture shock.

The technical work is assured. Cameraman Gatti worked regularly with Pontecorvo, making him a natural choice for this one but he also did popular films, notably several by Sergio Corbucci.

In a better ordered world, this would be more familiar than BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN and THE CRUEL SEA but we don't live in that world.

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Most impressive!, 6 January 2007
10/10
Author: from Austria

I only could see this film 25 years ago in Zurich in an independent cinema, no more ever since then, not even on DVD, no matter how much I tried.

Here, at last, I found it described and cannot help but tell everybody to see this wonderful movie, one of the best I have ever seen (I am the co-founder of an independent cinema in Austria).

Don't miss it, I hope that it it comes on DVD, finally!

It is an important human and political document about a time and circumstances, which seem gone, but, in one or the other way are going on and on all over the world even faster than ever and finally lead to problems for us all.

The "solution" of this film is not the one I prefer, but this film makes it understandable, how it came and comes to reactions, nobody really wants, 50 years ago, today, and, unfortunately also tomorrow. But, as history shows, this struggle was not in vain.

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