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The Battle of Algiers

La battaglia di Algeri

1966

Gillo Pontecorvo

Jean Martin, Yacef Saadi, Brahim Haggiag, Fusia El Kader ...

8.0

6,376

War. Drama A film commissioned by the Algerian government that shows the Algerian War (1954-1962) from both sides. The French foreign legion has left Vietnam in defeat and has something to prove. The Algerians are seeking independence. The two clash. The torture used by the French is contrasted with the Algerian's use of bombs in soda shops. A look at war as a nasty thing that harms and sullies everyone who participates in it.

	Author	Review
United States	Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"It may be a deeper film experience than many audiences can withstand: too cynical, too true, too cruel and too heartbreaking (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United Kingdom	Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"An extraordinary experience (...) It is of its time in many ways, yet somehow more extreme, and more contemporary, than anything else around (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Bosley Crowther The New York Times	"An uncommonly dynamic picture (...) Amazing photographic virtuosity and pictorial conviction (...) It looks beyond any question to be an original documentary film"	POS
United States	Peter Rainer New York Magazine	"As relevant today as it was in 1965 (...) Its anatomy of terror remains unsurpassed—and, woefully, ever fresh (...) [With an] extraordinary realism"	POS
United States	Mike D'Angelo AV Club	"Pontecorvo’s choice to mimic the visual aesthetic of documentaries (...) was both revolutionary and hugely influential (...) It’s that formal genius, along with Ennio Morricone’s anxious, staccato score, that truly endures"	POS
United States	Barbara Keenlyside CNN	"You'll learn history lessons about guerrilla war, state-sponsored war and what a people will do and risk for independence. But most of all, you'll experience a powerful and enduring work of art."	POS
United States	Glenn Heath Jr. Slant	"'The Battle of Algiers' is a political tract that understands itself also as a cinematic exercise (...) [A] unique balance of romantic lyricism and hard-nosed realism (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United Kingdom	David Parkinson Empire	"[Pontecorvo's] conviction and condemnation are not devoid of compassion (...) The most important piece of political filmmaking since 'Battleship Potemkin' (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Eric Hynes LA Weekly	"Pontecorvo's most innovative play was to crib from observational documentary, shooting whole sections as if his incidents were being spontaneously recorded. This formal audacity is one of the film's most enduring provocations."	POS
United Kingdom	Telegraph	"A must-have for movie buffs and military strategists alike (...) As arresting today as it must have done when it won the Golden Lion in 1966 (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Variety	"It's a dedicated effort with importance as a 'document' (...) Grey reel quality gives pic an authentic flavor throughout, and adds to dramatic impact of many of its sequences."	POS

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