Battle of Algiers | 
| Director: Gillo Pontecorvo
Actors: Brahim Hadjadj, Jean Martin, Yacef Saadi, Samia Kerbash, Ugo Paletti
Studio: Rhino / Wea
List Price: $19.98
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New (2) Used (13) Collectible (4) from $15.23
Rating:  114 reviews
Sales Rank: 76
Format: Black & White, Ntsc
Languages: Arabic (Original Language), English (Original Language), French (Original Language), Italian (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: VHS Tape
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 125 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 6302737249
UPC: 081227210830
EAN: 9786302737240
ASIN: 6302737249
Theatrical Release Date: September 20, 1967
Release Date: April 21, 1993
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Condition: NICE COPY; SHIPS WITH DELIVERY CONFIRMATION
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Director Gillo Pontecorvo's 1966 movie The Battle of Algiers concerns the violent struggle in the late 1950s for Algerian independence from France, where the film was banned on its release for fear of creating civil disturbances. Certainly, the heady, insurrectionary mood of the film, enhanced by a relentlessly pulsating Ennio Morricone soundtrack, makes for an emotionally high temperature throughout. Decades later, the advent of the "war against terror" has only intensified the film's relevance. Shot in a gripping, quasi-documentary style, The Battle of Algiers uses a cast of untrained actors coupled with a stern voiceover. Initially, the film focuses on the conversion of young hoodlum Ali La Pointe (Brahim Haggiag) to F.L.N. (the Algerian Liberation Front). However, as a sequence of outrages and violent counter-terrorist measures ensue, it becomes clear that, as in Eisenstein's October, it is the Revolution itself that is the true star of the film. Pontecorvo balances cinematic tension with grimly acute political insight. He also manages an evenhandedness in depicting the adversaries. He doesn't flinch from demonstrating the civilian consequences of the F.L.N.'s bombings, while Colonel Mathieu, the French office brought in to quell the nationalists, is played by Jean Martin as a determined, shrewd, and, in his own way, honorable man. However, the closing scenes of the movie--a welter of smoke, teeming street demonstrations, and the pealing white noise of ululations--leaves the viewer both intellectually and emotionally convinced of the rightfulness of the liberation struggle. This is surely among a handful of the finest movies ever made. --David Stubbs
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| Customer Reviews: Read 109 more reviews...
 Choke on truth, war on display June 10, 2008
C. Christopher Blackshere (Dumbness is a state of mined)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
This is the harshest, most ultimately gripping political docudrama I've ever seen. It has grainy, high-contrast cinematography with raw footage--it totally pulls you in to the bleeding heart of war in an unflinching manner. With the voice over narration you'll feel like you're watching live footage on CNN.
There are no individual connections or character development. It reports the tragic events of the French-Algerian War('54-'62) very matter of factly. It tries to get inside the minds of both sides. There are police shootings, terrorists bombings, assassinations, vengeful mobs, raids, public searches, graphic torture...it's gut-wrenching relevance emphatically pierces through even more so today. Brilliant filmmaking.
SO ..SO ..RELEVANT TODAY May 13, 2008
Christopher G. Johnson (Hattiesburg MS)
Having read many Books on the Algerian war ,I was drawn to this Movie and must say it is a MUST SEE!for any movie fanatic or History major. The DVD Boxed set comes in a wonderful package it looks and feels like it belongs in the Louvre,at first I was taken back by the Bias towards the Algerian side but then again History is subjective ...well worth the money .
There's Nothing New Under The Sun April 16, 2008
Ellie Reasoner (Ever On The East Side)
This film hits like a punch to the mid-section!
I rate The Battle of Algiers among the best films ever made and lament the fact it is so (suspiciously) difficult to find a copy of it in the United States today. It is painfully realistic, fact-filled, horrifying, and packed with disturbing lessons in the politics of conflicting cultures that have never been more relevant than they are right now. As it tells the story of dogged French efforts half a century ago to maintain possession of Algeria, and equally tenacious Algerian struggles to attain independence, The Battle of Algiers has a cast of hundreds (and thousands more extras) that keeps its story going at an extremely fast pace. Here among the countless acts of assassination, terrorism, and outright murder, often for revenge and against innocent civilians, is human drama anchored in history and reality. Some of the incidents this motion picture bluntly depicts will send chills down the spines of even the most hardened veteran of sensationalized, special effect heavy Hollywood war films. And of course anyone would have to be blind not to see ironclad parallels between the French experiences in North Africa and the American situation in Iraq today. This is a masterpiece.
Unrelenting but very apropos to today's headlines February 14, 2008
A. J. Stavsky
The story (as told from Algerian eyes) of the battle for the control of French Algeria remains poignant, timely and powerful after more than 40 years. It's no wonder that the U.S. military top brass studied this film; it's probably "Occupation 101" for any military college in the world. The Criterion edition is the one to get, not only for the plethora of extras, but also for the clean, crisp digitally enhanced DVDs.
One of the best movies ever -- and quite relevant for U.S. wars in the Mideast December 23, 2007
Repps Hudson (University City, MO)
I first saw the Battle of Algiers more than 30 years ago, while the U.S. was still involved in Vietnam. Today, we are bogged down in urban warfare in Iraq, and it again is quite appropriate for Americans to see and understand.
Defeating a guerrilla army when it is fighting for its own homeland is extremely difficult. Only the British in Malaya were successful in defeating Communist forces, and that was more than 40 years ago and under very different circumstances that Americans face in Iraq.
In the Battle of Algiers, the French seem to be winning, but of course, de Gaulle realized by 1958 or so that, indeed, Algeria was not a part of metropolitan France after all.
I come away from the Battle of Algiers each time thinking how absolutely futile it is for a colonial or foreign power to try to impose its will and its political system on another society and culture. Those people being suppressed will always find a way to fight back. It may take a generation or two, but it is inevitable.
Had more people in the Bush administration seen the Battle of Algiers and truly appreciated it -- and left their arrogance at the door -- we might not have the awful situation in Iraq that we do now.
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