Battle of Algiers

Release Date: 2004-10-12, Rating NR (Not Rated),

DVDs. Battle of Algiers

Gillo Pontecorvo's presents a harrowing documentary- style depiction of the Algerian's people's struggle to liberate themselves from France between 1954 and 1962. The film creates a stunning illusion of realism by combining actual newsreel footage with staged sequences featuring amateur and professional actors playing characters based on real people including Saadi Yacef the one-time leader of the FLN in occupied Algiers. With it's depiction of political torture and violence retaining every bit of the impact they had upon the film's original release THE BATTLE FOR ALGIERS was re-released theatrically in 2003 to great acclaim and reevaluation. Winner of 11 International Film awards.

Political Drama DVD - A forerunner of the "docudrama," this 1965 Italian-Algerian co-production won a slew of awards and became an unlikely international success that remains eerily resonant today. It shows the guerrilla war for Algerian independence from the French in 1954 as seen through the eyes of some of the participants. Shot in the actual locations, mixing actors with real-life combatants and eschewing the use of stock or newsreel footage, Battle comes across as probably being closer to the truth than any straight documentary could have been, mainly because it captures the complexities of the situation without resorting to facile finger-pointing. Although banned in France for many years, the film has become accepted as a masterpiece of its kind, conveying emotion without ignoring cold, hard facts. Its principal asset is a rigorous, impartial examination of views held by both sides, carefully woven into the narrative. Director Gillo Pontecorvo never again made a motion picture of Battle's style, depth,