The Battle of Algiers: The Criterion Collection [Blu-ray]

Historically Loaded and Politically Powerful Cinema...
Battle of Algiers displays the occupied Algeria attempt to fight for freedom as they have been under French rule since the 1830's. A little background history would enlighten the audience as the invasion of North Africa, Land of the Berbers, by the French in the 1830's was instigated by 300 years of "pirating" ships in the Mediterranean and raids of southern Europe, which enslaved many Europeans that were brought to Africa. However, the French occupation brought great injustices to the Algerian people as they are treated as second class citizens. In addition, the French controlled the markets, resources, and jobs, which only further the lives of the French citizens.

The injustices forced upon the Algerians to live in poverty, unemployment, societal harassment, and unequal rights. Consequently, the Algerians begin to rise against the injustice, but the unequal military force drives the Algerian freedom fighters to exercise terrorism and other hideous acts of violence...

The extras are simply staggering
Judge Gordon Sullivan, DVD Verdict-- There are so many obvious places to go when discussing The Battle of Algiers. It's almost certainly an accident (though one never knows) that the film was originally released by Criterion on DVD just as the whole Abu Ghraib torture scandal was heating up. It's easy to talk about the debate between terrorist and "freedom fighter," and how it's easy to look at the French as evil and the NLF as good because the Algerian's won their independence. The film also brings up the issues of acceptable tactics; is it okay to target civilians or use children to conduct urban warfare?

Certainly The Battle of Algiers raises these questions, and more--more than most films in the history of cinema. However, what is truly striking about The Battle of Algiers is not the historical moment it attempts to recreate, nor the ethical questions it raises. The most striking thing about The Battle of Algiers is its cinematic achievements. Viewers who know nothing,...

Brilliant, Beautiful & Provocative Political Cinema. Great DVD Set.
"The Battle of Algiers" is a film with an agenda. Italian director Gillo Pontecorvo plainly displays his Marxist, anti-colonial sympathies in this landmark of political cinema about the pivotal years in Algeria's struggle for independence from France. Style and suspense don't suffer for the politics, though. "The Battle of Algiers" was shot in beautiful neo-realist black-and-white, on location in Algiers' casbah. The film builds real suspense every time we wait for a bomb to explode, and we watch the fight for the loyalties of Algiers' Arab population with apprehension. The story is based on the memoirs of Saadi Yacef, a commander in Algeria's nationalist National Liberation Front's (FLN) guerilla forces in the 1950s, written while he was in prison in France. Yacef plays El-Hadi Jaffar in the film, who is essentially himself. Some details and persons have been changed, but "The Battle of Algiers" is basically true. To clarify, Algeria was not a French colony, protectorate, or mandate...

Click to Editorial Reviews