La Battaglia di Algeri (The Battle of Algiers) (1966)
Average Rating: 9/10
Reviews Counted: 76
Fresh: 75 | Rotten: 1
A powerful, documentary-like examination of the response to an occupying force, The Battle of Algiers hasn't aged a bit since its release in 1966.
Average Rating: 9/10
Critic Reviews: 22
Fresh: 22 | Rotten: 0
A powerful, documentary-like examination of the response to an occupying force, The Battle of Algiers hasn't aged a bit since its release in 1966.
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Average Rating: 4.4/5
User Ratings: 13,222
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Movie Info
This highly political film about the Algerian struggle for independence from France took "Best Film" honors at the 1966 Venice Film Festival. The bulk of the film is shot in flashback, presented as the memories of Ali (Brahim Haggiag), a leading member of the Algerian Front de Liberation Nationale (FLN), when finally captured by the French in 1957. Three years earlier, Ali was a petty thief who joined the secretive organization in order to help rid the Casbah of vice associated with the colonial
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Cast
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Brahim Haggiag
Ali La Pointe -
Yacef Saadi
Kader -
Jean Martin
Colonel Mathieu -
Tommaso Neri
Captain -
Fawzia el Kader
Halima -
Michele Kerbash
Fathia -
Mohamed Ben Kassen
Little Omar -
Samia Kerbash
Arabian girl -
-
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All Critics (76) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (83) | Rotten (1) | DVD (23)
Essential viewing.
Top CriticBoth a how-to manual for guerrilla terrorism and a cautionary tale about how to fight it. It's also quite possibly the finest war film ever made.
It's a dedicated effort with importance as a 'document.'
Superb and unrivalled.
What lessons a modern viewer can gain from the film depends on who is watching and what they want to see.
It's as fresh and suspenseful as anything before or since.
Its content has classic and tragic dimensions beyond politics.
The film establishes a kinetic documentary effect, making the impact of every shoot-out and explosion a deeply personal experience.
This seminal. meticulously crafted work about Algiers struggle for freedom won the Venic Film Fest top award, and deservedly garnered Pontecorvo Oscar nominations as Best Director and Co-scribe.
Partially because of its documentary style, used so effectively by director Gillo Pontecorvo, it never gets heavy-handed -- exploring the idea of violence as a necessary evil for freedom.
Powder-keg cinema at its finest, The Battle of Algiers storms the Blu-ray aisles with just as much anger, brutality, and complexity as it did theatrically 45 years ago.
"The Battle Of Algiers" is a one of a kind masterpiece of pure cinema that you will never forget.
It's a frank blend of exoticism, eroticism and foreshadowed horror.
One of the essential works of world cinema.
The inspiration and blueprint for docudrama and ideological cinema worldwide.
A riveting reconstruction of the struggle for independence in mid-50s Algiers, its pseudo-documentary style still feels as headline-fresh as its content.
Gillo Pontecorvo's epic of revolutionary fervour has dimmed not an iota since it was first released in 1966.
Forty years on, the film's lost not a fraction of its power.
Faux-documentary masterpiece
Whatever they made of The Battle of Algiers at the Pentagon, this is a must-see for everyone else now.
Brilliantly directed set-pieces and remarkable thronging crowd scenes make the film a masterpiece; the ominous familiarity of its subject makes it a must-see.
Audience Reviews for La Battaglia di Algeri (The Battle of Algiers)
Super Reviewer
Based on the true story of Algeria's long struggle for independence, this film chronicles a group of freedom fighters (terrorists) as they attempt to overthrow the French Colonial Government. In it's initial release, The Battle of Algiers hit a little too close to home for Americans who were still wallowing through the muck of their own occupation of Vietnam. I'd wager that, if it were released today, it would have the same effect. It's powerful and brutally honest in its depiction of street warfare. A rare offering that is completely deserving of all the hype.
Super Reviewer
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Foreign Titles
- Schlacht um Algier (DE)
- The Battle of Algiers (La Battaglia di Algeri) (1966) (UK)
I think what makes this film so powerful is the fact that Pontecorvo was able to encompass not only the power and emotion behind a revolutionary movement, but also show the confusion, sorrow, and often senseless violence that are the by-product of these movements.
Also, It was hard not to make modern day parallels to the occupation of Iraq. Watching these French officials attempt to find order and use their minds to fight an "enemy" who is empowered by their hearts, made me rethink every time I saw an American general on television discussing their efforts in stifling the revolutionary movement. It is a rare and brilliant film and is a must watch for any fans of film.