HISTORY LESSONS: The Battle of Algiers (1966)
“Give us your bombers, and you can have our baskets.”
CONTENT WARNING: Discussion of war, terrorism, guerilla war, torture, death, execution, bombings, violence, colonialism, racism.
This week we’re headed to North Africa, for a story of will and determination for freedom that’s unlike any other. From 1954 to 1962, Algeria fought a tough, complicated war for independence from colonial rule from France, a war that upended the French political system and began a long, difficult process of African decolonization. That’s a lot to try to pack into a single film, but director Gillo Pontecorvo does so with absolute perfect thought and foresight. Using mostly non-actors and filming in many of the actual locations where the events of the war took place, this week’s film is an absolute testament to vérité filmmaking. Viva L'algerie as we discuss The Battle of Algiers on Macintosh & Maud Haven’t Seen What?!
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Intro music taken from the Second Movement of Ludwig von Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Hong Kong (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 HK) license. To hear the full performance or get more information, visit the song page at the Internet Archive..
Excerpt taken from “Tema Di Ali (#2)” from the motion picture The Battle of Algiers composed by Ennio Morricone and Gillo Pontecorvo. ℗© 1966, 2015 Creazioni Artistiche Musicali C.A.M. srl. (una Società del Gruppo Sugar) / Universal Music Publishing Ricordi srl.
Excerpt taken from the motion picture soundtrack to the film All the President’s Men, composed by David Shire. © 1976 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
