Parallel Realities in Cinema: The Battle of Algiers The Battle of Algiers (1966) tackles colonialism, imperialism, and war in its coverage of the Algerian War of Independence through the lens of Italian neorealism and direction by Gillo Pontecorvo. Despite being critically acclaimed during its release, the film was banned in France until 1971 due to its highly graphic portrayal of violence. The film highlights numerous historical happenings during Algeria’s struggle to gain selfdetermination, such as the Rue de Thebes bombing, where angered French vigilantes tried to take matters into their own hands by planting a bomb at the home of a day laborer in the Arab quarters. This incident, killing dozens and injuring hundreds, is reported to be the first attack from either side to have involved civilians. Religious and racial tensions between the Pied-Noir French and the Muslim population could be observed, as shown in a scene where an innocent Algerian boy was beaten by a crowd right after a bombing at the horse races. The opening sequence of the film takes us to the end of the story. The year is 1957, and the French paratroopers have descended on the hideout of the last National Liberation Front (FLN) member Ali la Ponte. Before we get to see the end of the scene, the story is rewound a few years, to 1954, and we see glimpses of Ali la Ponte’s life as he transforms from a petty thief to a guerilla fighter. Parallels are drawn between the FLN and the military. At one point in the movie, the FLN fighters have outsmarted the French police and military at every turn. The FLN advocated against drugs and alcohol and began a short era of prohibition. When a famed lieutenant colonel is called into service, thus began a series of operations to snuff out potential and confirmed members of the guerrilla organization. As seen in the movie, women were given importance to the movement by providing cover for the transportation of weapons and bombs using their burkas, as religious practices have helped them evade pat-down searches. When these tactics no longer worked as an effect of even stricter checkpoint protocols, the women of the revolution dressed up as Western women and hid bombs in their baskets. It can then be inferred that the military and police practiced a form of racial profiling, wherein people who looked European or Western enough were granted a reprieve from the invasive frisking and harsh questioning at the checkpoint. We also see the French side of the war, where a brusque statement from the lieutenant colonel reads: humane considerations can only lead to despair. Elements of torture and violence are wellportrayed in this film, to the point where it became a bit too much to watch without flinching. However, this does nothing but paint a grim reality that still resonates to this day. Inhumane practices against political prisoners are rampant in authoritarian regimes where democracy is outright deprived. The film ends with a narration that it took a few more bloody years until Algeria was granted the right to self-determination as a nation. The use of Italian neorealism takes the gloominess and the stark reality of a revolution into the next level. Pontecorvo has also made it a point to cast real FLN fighters in some of the roles, so that their experiences and understanding could help enhance the concreteness and realism of the message the film has portrayed: revolution comes at a cost, but the price of freedom is an expensive victory.
