..Gary Dretzka
..Noah Forrest
..Leonard Klady
..R.J. Matson
..David Poland
..Douglas Pratt
..Ray Pride
..Michael Wilmington

The Battle of Algiers
Directed by Gillo Pontecorvo

Gillo Pontecorvo's Dragnet-style depiction of an uprising in an Algerian city against the colonial French government in the Fifties, The Battle of Algiers, has been released in a three-platter set by the Criterion Collection (BAT120, $50). Although the film is clearly in sympathy with the cause of the Arab nationalists, it is objective in its depiction of the atrocities committed by each side, and what makes it so compelling is the crisp efficiency of its procedural structure, first showing the terrorists as they organize themselves and begin their campaign, and then shifting to the French authorities, who come in and use torture to work their way through the organization and capture its leaders. The 1966 feature has identifiable characters, but it also does a superb job of conveying the personalities of the different communities involved in the conflict, suggesting the growth each group undergoes as the violence spirals.

The film is widely recognized as a masterpiece and has solidly withstood the tests of time and changing political currents. The DVD, however, is even better, because it builds upon the film's foundation, looking at both the historical circumstances under which the movie was made and how its lessons remain critically relevant today. The film is presented on the first platter, in letterboxed format only, with an aspect ratio of about 1.85:1 and an accommodation for enhanced 16:9 playback. In comparison to the cropped LD, there is nothing masked off the top and bottom, and additional picture information is added to the sides. The black-and-white feature has a deliberately rough-hewn, documentary look, but the image is very crisp and free of wear. The monophonic sound is stable and clear. The 121-minute film is in French and Arabic, with optional English subtitles. Two trailers and a modest collection of production photos and publicity materials are also included on the first platter.

The second platter covers Pontecorvo and the making of the film. One documentary, running 38 minutes, was produced in 1992 and looks over Pontecorvo's career, though no mention is made of The Wide Blue Road or other early filmmaking efforts. The primary retrospective documentary, running 51 minutes, created for the DVD, goes over the production of the film and the political uproar that followed its success. One of the stars interviewed extensively, Saadi Yacef, portrays a just slightly fictionalized version of himself in the film, a leader who instigated terrorist bombings and was eventually captured by the French. Not only did he survive being imprisoned by the French, he has also negotiated the treacherous Algerian political waters in the decades that followed. He served as an advisor to Pontecorvo, too, leading him to the locations where the original events occurred (about ten years before Battle was made) and helping with the arrangements so that Pontecorvo could shoot in those same locales. Pontecorvo explains, "It was fairly easy for us to be evenhanded. In a war, even if, from a historical standpoint, one side is proven right and the other wrong, both do horrendous things when they are in battle, when they wage war, one side as much as the other. Though we didn't hide the fact that we were decidedly against colonialism and that we were among those who hoped that Algeria would gain its liberation from France, nevertheless we realized France also had its motives that it felt were valid." Also featured is a 17-minute testimonial to the film by (mostly) American film directors such as Spike Lee, Oliver Stone and Steven Soderbergh.

The second platter reinforces the film's foundation, explaining how Pontecorvo saw an opportunity to dramatize a historical event in an exceptionally accurate and objective manner, and managed to follow through upon his intentions. The third platter reaps the benefits of his accomplishment. A 69-minute documentary made for the DVD places the film in its proper historical context, looking at the century-plus history of the French occupation of Algeria and examining the activities of the nationalist movement within the Algerian countryside-although the French 'won' the battle for the city of Algiers, the rebellion continued elsewhere, leading to the eventual uprising that is depicted in the film's finale as a sort of spontaneous event. The sad political infighting and murders that followed the country's independence are also examined. For the French perspective, a 28-minute excerpt from a 2002 documentary is included that features interviews with many of the French military personnel in charge of subduing the rebels. One officer essentially admits to having murdered the central nationalist leader while he was in prison. Elsewhere on the DVD, an interview with Yacef, as he talks emotionlessly about using terrorist bombs on civilian populations as a strategy, is disturbing, but there is something down right creepy about the French military men discussing the retribution and torture they employed in response.

The final two programs then take advantage of all the other materials on the DVD, and it is best to watch them after everything else. One is a 25-minute discussion made for the DVD with Christopher Isham, who works for ABC News, Richard A Clarke, the former intelligence advisor who became a news figure himself when he went public with his accusations of administration shortcomings in reacting to intelligence reports, and Michael A. Sheehan, another intelligence advisor with an expertise in terrorism. You wonder, however, why this level of intelligent conversation never makes it onto regular ABC news programs such as Nightline or This Week. They simultaneously explain how Algeria is different from the other Arab countries that have rejected western values, and also explain why the lessons of Battle of Algiers remain not only relevant but vital to the world at large. Using the model of the terrorist organization that is depicted in Algiers, Clarke explains that when America went into Afghanistan to destroy Al Queda, the structure broke apart like a seedpod, with each little group prepared to act and grow on its own. They cover too many aspects of arguments to relate in summary, but almost everything they have to say is important and eye-opening. To cite one more example-torture does not work. The accumulation of information gleaned from it is less valuable to the torturers than the sympathy and support it garners for those who have been tortured. The strategy for releasing information under torture is also discussed.

Finally, Pontecorvo returned to Algeria in 1992 to film a documentary for Italian television. Shortly after he finished, the Algerian leader, who had sat for an interview with him, was assassinated. In the 58-minute program, Pontecorvo tries to come to terms with this and shares the footage he shot of the country gradually but inexorably embracing Islamic fundamentalism. Essentially, what he found was that the in-fighting and corruption in the governments that followed the Algerian independence did not alter the poverty that was enforced by colonialism. Women, in particular, seem willing to trade the cosmetic trappings of independence, such as allowing their faces to be seen in public, if it will bring food to their tables and fix the pipes in their apartment buildings.

October 5 , 2004

DVD Roundup: This Week's DVD Releases
The Review Vault

- by Douglas Pratt

Douglas Pratt's DVD-Laser Disc Newsletter is published monthly.
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