Why was the Battle of Algiers important?
The Battle of Algiers was a campaign of urban guerrilla warfare carried out by the National Liberation Front (FLN) against the French Algerian authorities from late 1956 to late 1957. The use of torture, forced disappearances and illegal executions by the French later caused controversy in France.
How historically accurate is the Battle of Algiers?
The Battle of Algiers debuted in 1966, reconstructing events that had taken place just a few years earlier. Generally regarded as a historically accurate and balanced film, Director Gillo Pontecorvo nonetheless considered his work to be politically motivated.
Why was the Battle of Algiers banned?
The French authorities, who were very sensitive on the Algerian issue, banned the film for three months.” Due to repeated threats of violence from fascist groups, the government banned screenings of the film for four years, although Pontecorvo believed he had made a politically neutral film.
What is the impact of the independence movement in Algeria?
French sources suggest that casualties among Algerians totaled between 300,000 and 500,000, while Algerian sources claim as many as 1,500,000. Scores of villages were destroyed; forests were widely damaged; and some 2,000,000 inhabitants were moved to new settlements.
What is the message of the Battle of Algiers?
The Battle of Algiers also explores the roots of anti-colonial violence in imperial exploitation and suppression while exposing the shortcomings of torture and repression in dealing with the aspirations of colonized populations.
Was the Battle of Algiers biased?
Despite giving the illusion of impartiality, the film is biased towards the FLN’s struggle; Pontecorvo admits it to be “anti the French permanence in Algeria” (Solinas, 1973: 166).
Why is The Battle of Algiers filmed in black and white?
He wanted to create a sense of realism. Cinematographer Marcello Gatti shot the film in black and white, relying upon older film stock and handheld cameras to establish the look and feel of a documentary. This impression was enhanced by his use of proclamations broadcast on the radio by both the French and the FLN.
How and when did Algerians finally gain their independence?
In 1959 Charles de Gaulle declared that the Algerians had the right to determine their own future. Despite terrorist acts by French Algerians opposed to independence and an attempted coup in France by elements of the French army, an agreement was signed in 1962, and Algeria became independent.
Who started the Algerian war?
Effectively started by members of the National Liberation Front (FLN) on 1 November 1954, during the Toussaint Rouge (“Red All Saints’ Day”), the conflict led to serious political crises in France, causing the fall of the Fourth Republic (1946–58), to be replaced by the Fifth Republic with a strengthened presidency.
Who is the protagonist in the Battle of Algiers?
His protagonists are a French colonel (Jean Martin), who respects his opponents but believes (correctly, no doubt) that ruthless methods are necessary, and Ali (Brahim Haggiag), a petty criminal who becomes an FLN leader.
Who are the bad guys in The Battle of Algiers?
It shows that both the French forces and the Algerian revolutionaries committed unseemly acts: the French tortured Algerians, while the Algerians killed French civilians.
What is the message of The Battle of Algiers?
How many women were involved in the Battle of Algiers?
Despite the fact that destruction of civilian and military targets by women through paramilitary activities included less than seventy women, or about 2% of the total females in the military arm of the FLN, it was these acts, especially during the Battle of Algiers (1957), which received most of the attention given to women in this conflict.
What did women wear during the Algerian War?
To not arouse suspicion, Algerian women used western style implements like strollers and handbags to conceal explosives while sporting western attire without any veils.
Who was the young woman in the Algerian revolution?
On a late September afternoon in 1956, a young woman entered an Algiers cafe popular with European youth. She appeared like an ordinary French-Algerian, but in reality she was a revolutionary Algerian Muslim: Zohra Drif.
Why did women in Algeria pull off the veil?
Women like Djamila Bouhired, due to the incapacitation of men, were also charged with carrying out terrorist attacks ordered by FLN leadership and did so by again using changes in dress to their advantage. The desire to pull off the veil by the French manifested because the Algerian woman was a target of French male lust.