The Battle of Algiers hits home

Islamic terrorists dynamite a café full of civilians. Guerillas mercilessly hunt down police officers. Military intelligence tortures information out of destitute Arabs. Nearly four decades later, the Battle of Algiers still rings true.

Originally released in 1965, this collaboration between the Algerian government and Italian director Gillo Pontecorvo recounts the ghastly story of the National Liberation Front (FLN) and their struggle to free Algeria from French colonization. The FLN began its terrorist attacks against French police officers in Algiers in 1954. Fighting continued until 1957, when a general strike throughout the Casbah (the Arab section of Algiers) in conjunction with the United Nations debate on Algeria halted the shootings and dynamite attacks. During the strike, the French army was able to track down the FLN heads and begin to destroy the organization.

The Battle of Algiers is remarkably accurate and impersonal. Unlike many war films of today, it is a chronicle of the battle, not one soldier or platoon's story. No special bonds are formed either between Ali la Pointe (Brahim Aggiag), the main FLN character, or Colonel Matthieu (Jean Martin), representing the French army. In fact, the only real sympathy elicited is towards their victims: countless impoverished Algerians, young children, hardened women, French youths and unaware colonists.

All of the agony these people suffer, all of the anguish they go through is shown in full through heart-wrenching close-ups: a single tear falling silently down a battered man's face, a toddler abandoned screaming as its parents are evicted by soldiers. No crushing detail is spared. Women are used to plant bombs (shockingly true to history), and a young boy is beaten by middle-aged upper class Frenchmen.

Perhaps the scariest part of the film, however, is the inevitable parallels between France's occupation of Algeria and the United States in Iraq. The similarity between the situations varies on the political view adopted, but the facts—the destruction, the drain on resources—are all the same. In a press conference, the Colonel asks, "Should France stay in Algeria? If the answer is still yes, you'll have to accept all the necessary consequences." Today, the guns are more powerful, the bombs are more efficient, but the consequences are unchanged.

Though told in French and Arabic (with English subtitles) and despite poor sound quality and black and white images, the message of this film is unmistakable. There is nothing good and nothing beautiful about war. The Battle of Algiers is jarring and formidable, a film of sheer force.

The Battle of Algiers is unrated but contains violence and is not recommended for younger audiences. It runs 117 minutes and is playing at the E Street Cinema.