The Battle of Algiers (Battaglia di Algeri, La) (1965) |
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The Battle of Algiers (Battaglia di Algeri, La) (1965) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | War |
Main Menu Audio Featurette-Return To Algiers Gallery-Production Stills, Posters, Lobby Cards Theatrical Trailer-2 Trailer-Playtime, The Leopard, La Strada, Tokyo Story Trailer-The Town Is Quiet, Down By Law |
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| Year Of Production | 1965 | ||
| Running Time | 121:22 (Case: 117) | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | RSDL (34:46) | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 1,2,3,4,5,6 | Directed By | Gillo Pontecorvo |
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Studio
Distributor |
Janus Films Madman Entertainment |
Starring |
Brahim Haggiag Jean Martin Yacef Saadi Samia Kerbash Ugo Paletti Fusia El Kader Omar |
| Case | Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip | ||
| RPI | $29.95 | Music |
Ennio Morricone Gillo Pontecorvo |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None | French Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) | |
| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | Yes | ||
| Subtitles | English | Smoking | Yes |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
While incarcerated in a French gaol in 1954, Ali la Pointe witnesses the execution of an Algerian patriot. When released he joins the FLN, an organisation determined to win Algerians freedom from French colonial rule. Initially limiting their actions to killing policemen, when the French paratroops arrive led by Colonel Mathieu the conflict escalates, and the blood of innocents on both sides is shed.
Director Gillo Pontecorvo, like his physicist brother Bruno, was influenced by Communist ideology during the late 1930s. During the war he was one of the leaders of the anti-Fascist Garibaldi Brigades. At the end of the war he saw the Rossellini film Paisan and was inspired to become a filmmaker himself. His best and best-known work came during the 1960s, and his masterpiece is The Battle of Algiers.
The film was based on a book by Saadi Yacef. Saadi Yacef was one of the leaders of the FLN and wanted to make a film about Algeria's struggle for independence. He approached several prominent film directors and eventually found the right man in Pontecorvo. The film was shot on location in Algiers, with many non-actors appearing, including Saadi Yacef effectively playing himself. Jean Martin as Mathieu is perhaps the only professional actor in the cast.
Pontecorvo depicts the escalation of the violence as inevitable. The Algerian police respond to the targeted killing of their officers by blowing up an apartment block in the Casbah. The FLN respond by more indiscriminate killings, which forces the French to introduce checkpoints, effectively quarantining the Casbah. This forces the FLN to continue their campaign by blowing up cafes frequented by French civilians, using Arab women to plant the bombs. Mathieu decides that the conflict requires the paratroops to take a policing role rather than a military one, and they use torture as one of their methods of identifying and locating the FLN members.
The film does not glorify either side. The audience's sympathy is naturally with the Algerians, but it does not shy away from or attempt to explain the killing of innocents by either side. Nor are the French portrayed as evil colonialists. Pontecorvo seems to be suggesting that it is an historical inevitability that the Algerian people would rise up against colonial rule and win their freedom, in line with Communist ideology.
It's tempting to draw parallels between the events depicted in this film and those in other Arabic countries today, where Western powers are attempting to impose their will on the political and social landscape. Indeed the Pentagon screened this film as part of their assessment of terrorist organisations and how to defeat them. What they perhaps didn't appreciate was the the movement which the terrorists represented eventually won.
What makes this film impressive, as is mentioned in the original trailer, is that it was entirely a recreation of the events of a few years earlier. There is no archival or newsreel footage used. Every frame was freshly shot. The people of Algiers came out in droves to recreate the demonstrations, locations in the Casbah are brilliantly utilised to create the feeling of a city under siege, and the use of low-grade black and white stock together with hand-held cameras creates a documentary-style immediacy. In fact this is probably the best film of its type, less polemical than Z, and free of the events-as-seen-by-Americans style of Under Fire or Salvador. Not to mention Godard's strange Maoist ramblings. This is an eye-opening, chilling and exciting film all at once, well worthy of a DVD release and highly recommended.
The film is presented in the original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is 16x9 enhanced. The cover erroneously states that the transfer is "full frame original ratio 4:3".
The transfer used for this released seems to be the same as that used for the Region 1 Criterion release, judging by the Janus logo shown at the start of the film. It seems to have the same running time as the Region 1, indicating that this transfer is an NTSC to PAL conversion.
This would be consistent with the look of the film. While it seems to be sharp when the camera and the actors are still, as soon as there is any movement there is a slight blurring. The effect is quite minimal and may be invisible to viewers with smaller displays. A good level of detail is visible in most shots, though with the use of less than optimal film stock the film is not supposed to be razor sharp and finely detailed. The same can be said of contrast levels. Contrast is good most of the time, and the transfer is quite bright. Black levels are very pronounced. While in some sequences there appears to be some low level noise, most of the time the blacks are very black and clean. Shadow detail is practically non-existent.
There are few other film to video artefacts. Some occasional mild aliasing can be seen, but not enough to constitute a problem. Near the beginning of the film there is some evidence of minor film damage, but otherwise there are no film artefacts.
Optional subtitles are provided in English with a yellow font. The subtitles have American spelling, but there are few times when this is noticeable. They appear to be well timed and all of the dialogue seems to be subtitled.
The disc is RSDL-formatted with the layer change well positioned at a cut at 34:46.
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The single audio track is Dolby Digital 2.0 mono, in French and Arabic.
This is a good track considering the age and provenance of the film. Dialogue is clear and there are no obvious problems with hiss or dropouts, though some of the audio is a little shrill. It occasionally sounds muffled as well.
Audio sync is not very good, though this is a result of the soundtrack being added after the film was shot. Lip-syncing is often approximate.
The excellent music score is a collaboration between Pontecorvo and Ennio Morricone. It is an amalgam of military-style themes and Western music with Arabic influences.
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The main menu features some of the music score.
In 1992 Pontecorvo returned to Algiers to make a film for Italian television. After an initially hostile reception, the locals greeted him warmly when they found out he had made the earlier film there. At this time Algeria was still in a state of political upheaval, with the Islamic fundamentalist group FIS making an impression in the first round of elections and forcing the free elections to be cancelled by the ruling party. Pontecorvo interviewed the Algerian President shortly before he was assassinated.
What Pontecorvo seems not to see in this film is that the 30 years of independence had not solved the social ills which in part led to the original uprising. Though this is mentioned by several of the interviewees, Pontecorvo does not address this and instead sees it in terms of a clash between Western and Islamic cultures.
This extra is in 1.33:1 and has optional English subtitles.
Some 45 items are available here, with a lot of posters and lobby cards together with stills from the original production.
A 1960s trailer in French, although the film was banned in France for some years, plus the re-release trailer.
Propaganda for other AV Channel releases.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The UK Region 2 release is in 1.78:1 and is full of film artefacts, plus the soundtrack shows signs of wear and tear. The extras are limited to an interview with Pontecorvo and a photo gallery containing about 100 production stills.
The US Region 1 release comes from Criterion and basically blows the opposition away. It comes in a three-disc set that comprises the film-specific extras found on the Region 4 plus:
With what seems to be a sharper transfer, and over three hours of extras in addition to those on the Region 4 plus a substantial booklet, the Region 1 is a clear winner.
One of the best political films ever made, this is as relevant today as it was 40 years ago.
The video quality is pretty good.
The audio quality is good.
The documentary extra is quite good.
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Pioneer DV-S733A, using Component output |
| Display | Sony 86CM Trinitron Wega KVHR36M31. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to DVD player, Dolby Digital, dts and DVD-Audio. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. |
| Amplification | Sony TA-DA9000ES |
| Speakers | Main: Tannoy Revolution R3; Centre: Tannoy Sensys DCC; Rear: Richter Harlequin; Subwoofer: JBL SUB175 |