Cheap The Battle of Algiers - Criterion Collection (DVD) (Brahim Haggiag) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Battle of Algiers - Criterion Collection

EXTRAORDINARY
This film was released in the late sixties at the same time the U.S. was getting involved with Vietnam and the similarities are obvious. This is an emotional film which should be seen by all people(except young children). It's use of black and white film, documentary style look, non-professional actors, music, and realism make this a legendary film experience. It starts off with Ali "La Pointe" joining the freedom fighters against French colonial rule. Both sides start bombing each other and then France sends in its army to squash the rebellion. The films violence is harsh but necessary. The torture scenes were removed from some european prints but is intact in this video. This is the type of film that should be shown in highschool and college classes, it is a part of history. The things that will linger with you after watching this excellent film is what the Algerians went through to get their independence, too many innocent people died in this struggle and the viewer can't but help feeling the tragedy of this type of struggle, the final thirty minutes of this film is heartrending. Watch it!

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VERY POWERFUL CAUTIONARY TALE
I finally got around to seeing this 1967 film, depicting the French occupation of colonial Algiers in the 1950s, which eventually led to the independence of this Muslim nation. It is well worth watching in order to learn lessons about the Iraq aftermath, although one should not make too many connections. The biggest difference is that the French wanted to stay and maintain the country as a colony, whereas the U.S. cannot wait to get the heck out of Iraq as soon as it is semi-secure. This film is black-and-white with sub-titles. It is very revealing in its descriptions of how terrorists (or freedom fighters) fight guerrilla war, and it is the last straw (after Diem bien Phu) for French militarism. Read Camus to get a perspective on their mindset at the time. The film ends with the French having destroyed the cell responsible for a series of bombings, but in its denoument shows that a few years later an uprising occurred, out of nowhere really, that finally left the French with the conclusion that they did not have the stomach for colonialization. This story should be studied in light of French failures in Syria, Lebanon, its Foreign Legion's wars (plus Belgium's failure in the Congo), and the determination of this study is that the French have contributed mightily to destabilization of the Middle East, a little known fact in today's discourse.

STEVEN TRAVERS
AUTHOR OF "BARRY BONDS: BASEBALL'S SUPERMAN"
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Ground-breaking film is a must-see
I'll review the actual film instead of rambling on about the politics. The Battle of Algiers is a ground-breaking, must-see film. If you have seen recent films like "Traffic" and "City of God (Cidade de Deus)", then you must see this film, for it pioneered the documentary-style utilized by those other films that puts the grit and gravel under your feet while you watch it. The film does not purport to be a documentary, but rather than the clean, sweeping, over-directed camera shots you may be used to, the camera is usually on the ground, following the characters from their point of view. The action is brutally realistic (for its time). And the film-maker is certainly sympathetic with the plight of the Algerians in their struggle against the French; you will be too, if you do not share the naive view that colonialism is somehow there to "protect" the colonized population. Nevertheless, the filmmaker shows some of the atrocities committed in the name of Algerian independence, such as cafe bombings that killed dozens of innocent people. He doesn't sugarcoat these scenes, and he leaves it up to the audience to decide whether this kind of action can ever be justified (I certainly don't think so).

This film is even more relevent today, as another Arab nation undergoes colonization once again by the West. Watch this film, and you will understand a lot more about the contemporary situation in the Middle East.