The Battle of Algiers

"The Battle of Algiers" is considered a classic to many people and the review/commentary I read by Sheila K. Johnson of News Center would definitely agree. Johnson first discusses how the film was mostly watched by young Americans when it first came out in the 1960s, young Americans who just wanted to learn more about the Third World country revolutionaries thousands of miles away. I thought it was very interesting how Johnson explicated the fact that the film was made by an Italian director, Gillo Pontecorvo. I never thought this would really affect the film, but she makes the point that the fact that the director was neither French nor Algerian added an un-bias feel to the film. Johnson also points out that the film is shown in political science classes as well as more recently the pentagon. While watching the film I was also, like Johnson, extremely impressed with the documentary-like look the film had. Knowing that Pontecorvo did not use any realy footage made the film that much more impressive. Johnson kept on making connections between the Algerians and the Iraqis and her view on the war in Iraq became extremely clear, but I feel she concentrated on that connection too much and should have just watched the film to learn more about that instance in history. What Johnson did not mention was the fact that most of the actors in the film were not professional actors. Not only was that my favorite fun fact but I thought that having real life Algerians represent their culture made the film that much more authentic. Overall, Johnson praises the film for being a groundbreaking piece of art, while I enjoyed it but reading the subtitles became a little too hard sitting in the back.