Acts of Violence Don't Win Wars

In response to the article from the Washington Post:

A lot of what was mentioned in the review from the Washington Post were things that we talked about in class. They focused on the balance between the warring sides, how Pontecorvo managed to tell the story of the battle of Algiers without (as Klob would say) "beating you over the head" with one side of the confrontation. This was a really important part of the film The Battle of Algiers. While I was watching it, I was thinking about the villain of the film (as I so often do). Although the French are the bad guys in this film, I found it hard to despise their villain-ness, something that is usually very easy to do. The fact is that these people were doing their job. They were using war tactics to accomplish what they needed to accomplish. While I could feel a general disdain for the French in the film, I couldn't manage to loathe them.

The article also commended Pontecorvo's style and ideas when it came to making the film. Although the film wasn't meant to be a documentary, it had the feel of one with hand-held cameras and newsreel film. Even in the documentary snippets we watched in class, it showed how realistic Pontecorvo made the film. Scenes in the movie almost doubled scenes that took place in real life. Part of this effectiveness was the fact that he shot on scene. The film really does take place in the Casbah and the characters really are Algerians. Like we've mentioned time and time again, the only professional actor was the one portraying Colonel Mathieu. Everyone else was either picked up off the street for their memorable faces or had actually been a part of the revolutionary movement.

Overall, this article gave deserved praise to the film The Battle of Algiers. To this day it is a timely piece of film literature. I enjoyed this film immensely, it made people talk. It brought up controversy and issues, often a mark of quality. Unfortunately, it also subjected me to watching torture at 8:30 in the morning....not my cup of tea.