Movie Description
Gillo Pontecorvo's presents a harrowing, documentary-style depiction of the Algerian's people's struggle to liberate themselves from France between 1954 and 1962. The film creates a stunning illusion of realism by combining actual newsreel footage with staged sequences featuring amateur and professional actors playing characters based on real people (including Saadi Yacef, the one-time leader of the FLN in occupied Algiers). With it's depiction of political torture and violence retaining every bit of the impact they had upon the film's original release, THE BATTLE FOR ALGIERS was re-released theatrically in 2003 to great acclaim and reevaluation. Winner of 11 International Film awards.
| Credits | | Cast: | Brahim Haggiag |
Notes
"The Battle of Algiers" was the first feature film produced in Algeria by Algerians (although the director and much of the film's crew were Italian).
Screened at 1966 Venice Film Festival.
Production companies: Igor Film (Rome) and Casbah Films (Algiers).
Distribution company: Magna Films.
Editorial Reviews
"The film itself remains as powerful as ever, both on a formal level and as political drama."
Sight and Sound - Geoffrey Macnab (12/31/2003)
"[The film] casts an eerie shadow over a world rocked by the underground politics of fear and rage."
Entertainment Weekly - Owen Gleiberman (01/16/2004)
"[W]hat's most impressive about this 1965 epic of revolution is the realization that its compelling imagery and its powerful insights are so continually relevant that this film isn't back, it's never really left us."
Los Angeles Times - Kenneth Turan (01/19/2004)
"Its vitality and immediacy are undiminished."
Total Film - Jamie Graham (01/01/2004)
"A thrilling film, shocking and often unsubtle, it's also an eerily prescient snapshot of 21st-century global politics."
Uncut - Kevin Maher (12/01/2003)
"[T]he 1965 classic is a revealing look at the mind-set of terrorists that is so relevant to current events that it was screened at the Pentagon."
USA Today - Mike Snider (10/12/2004)
4 stars out of 5 -- "As Pontecorvo looks at the impact of war on all those who live through it, it remains desperately relevant today."
Ultimate DVD - Ultimate DVD Staff (06/01/2007)
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