The Battle of Algiers

For the battle this film is named after, see Battle of Algiers (1956–1957). For other uses, see Battle of Algiers (disambiguation).

The Battle of Algiers
U.S. theatrical release poster
Italian: La battaglia di Algeri
Arabic: Maʿrakat al-Jazāʾir
Directed byGillo Pontecorvo
Written byFranco Solinas
Story byFranco Solinas
Gillo Pontecorvo
Based onSouvenirs de la Bataille d'Alger
by Saadi Yacef
Produced byAntonio Musu
Saadi Yacef
StarringJean Martin
Saadi Yacef
Brahim Haggiag
Tommaso Neri
CinematographyMarcello Gatti
Edited byMario Morra
Mario Serandrei
Music byEnnio Morricone
Gillo Pontecorvo
Production
companies
Igor Film
Casbah Film
Distributed byAllied Artists (USA)
Release dates
  • August 31, 1966 (1966-08-31) (Venice)
  • September 9, 1966 (1966-09-09) (Italy)
  • September 27, 1966 (1966-09-27) (Algeria)
Running time
  • 136 minutes (Original version)
  • 120 minutes (Cut version for theaters)[1]
CountriesItaly
Algeria
LanguagesArabic
French
Budget$806,735
Box office$879,794 (domestic)[2]

The Battle of Algiers (Italian: La battaglia di Algeri; Arabic: معركة الجزائر, romanized: Maʿrakat al-Jazāʾir) is a 1966 Italian-Algerian war film co-written and directed by Gillo Pontecorvo. It is based on action undertaken by rebels during the Algerian War (1954–1962) against the French government in North Africa, the most prominent being the eponymous Battle of Algiers, the capital of Algeria. It was shot on location in a Roberto Rossellini-inspired newsreel style: in black and white with documentary-type editing to add to its sense of historical authenticity, with mostly non-professional actors who had lived through the real battle. The film's score was composed by Pontecorvo and Ennio Morricone. It is often associated with Italian neorealist cinema.[3]

The film concentrates mainly on revolutionary fighter Ali La Pointe during the years between 1954 and 1957, when guerrilla fighters of the FLN went into Algiers. Their actions were met by French paratroopers attempting to regain territory. The highly dramatic film is about the organization of a guerrilla movement and the illegal methods, such as torture, used by the French to stop it. Algeria succeeded in gaining independence from the French, which Pontecorvo addresses in the film's epilogue.[4]

The film was met with international acclaim, and it is considered to be one of the greatest films of all time. It won the Golden Lion at the 27th Venice Film Festival among other awards and nominations. It also was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. A subject of sociopolitical controversy in France, the film was not screened in the country for five years.[1] Insurgent groups and state authorities have considered it to be an important commentary on urban guerrilla warfare. In Sight and Sound's 2022 poll of the greatest films of all time, it ranked 45th on the critics' list and 22nd with directors.

In 2008, the film was included on the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage's 100 Italian films to be saved, a list of 100 films that "have changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978."[5]

  1. ^ a b Malcolm, Derek (July 20, 2000). "Gillo Pontecorvo: The Battle of Algiers". The Guardian.
  2. ^ "The Battle of Algiers (1967) – Box Office Mojo". www.boxofficemojo.com.
  3. ^ Shapiro, Michael J. (August 1, 2008). "Slow Looking: The Ethics and Politics of Aesthetics: Jill Bennett, Empathic Vision: Affect, Trauma, and Contemporary Art (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2005); Mark Reinhardt, Holly Edwards, and Erina Duganne, Beautiful Suffering: Photography and the Traffic in Pain (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2007); Gillo Pontecorvo, director, The Battle of Algiers (Criterion: Special Three-Disc Edition, 2004)". Millennium: Journal of International Studies. 37: 181–197. doi:10.1177/0305829808093770.
  4. ^ "Gillo Pontecorvo: The Battle of Algiers". The Guardian.
  5. ^ "Ecco i cento film italiani da salvare Corriere della Sera". www.corriere.it. Retrieved March 11, 2021.