Criterion Collection - The Battle of Algiers, Brahim Haggiag, DVD

Features

Disc 1: New high-definition digital transfer of The Battle of Algiers, supervised by cinematographer Marcello Gratti, with restored image and sound, and enhanced for widescreen televisions; 1992's Return to Algiers, with director Gillo Pontecorvo and his son; theatrical and re-release trailers; poster gallery.
Disc 2: "The Making of The Battle of Algiers, an exclusive new documentary; "The Dictatorship of Truth," a 37-minute documentary narrated by Edward Said; "Directors on The Battle of Algiers," with Spike Lee, Mira Nair, Julian Schnabel, Steven Soderbergh, and Oliver Stone.
Disc 3: "The Battle of Algiers and History," a new documentary featuring interviews with historians Alistair Horne, Hugh Roberts and Benjamin Stora, former FLN members Zohra Drif-Bitat, Mohammed Harbi and Saadi Yacef, and writer and torture victim, Henri Alleg; "Etats d'Armies," a 30-minute excerpt from Patrick Rotman's 3-part documentary, L'Ennemi Intime; "How to Win the Battle But Lose the War of Ideas," a conversation about the contemporary relevance of The Battle of Algiers between former National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism Richard A. Clarke, former State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Michael A. Sheehan, and Chief of Investigative Projects for ABC News, Christopher E. Isham.
Plus: A booklet featuring a new essay by film scholar Peter Matthews; a reprinted interview with writer Franco Solinas; and brief biographies on the key figures in the French-Algerian War.

Full Product Details

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Battle of Algiers
1. Opening Titles: Algiers, 1957 [6:40]
2. Algiers, 1954: Ali La Pointe [3:13]
3. Witness To an Execution [2:27]
4. Message From Jaffar [5:38]
5. FLN Communiqu� No. 24 [4:03]
6. A Wedding Ceremony [2:39]
7. June 20, 1956, 10:32... [2:09]
8. Police Precinct [2:29]
9. Barricades and Barbed Wire [:47]
10. July 20, 1956, 11:20... [4:44]
11. No. 8 the Casbah [4:56]
12. "The FLN Will Avenge You!" [1:39]
13. Three Women [6:53]
14. Three Bombs [5:46]
15. Paratroopers Arrive [1:22]
16. A Faceless Enemy [5:07]
17. General Strike [3:12]
18. Larbi Ben M'Hidi [4:15]
19. Raiding the Casbah [3:08]
20. A Word From Col. Mathieu [1:58]
21. Intelligence Gathering [2:05]
22. Day Six of the Strike [2:06]
23. Un Resolution [3:50]
24. Four FLN Leaders [5:49]
25. February 25, 1957: The Racetrack [1:19]
26. Press Conference With Ben M'Hidi [2:38]
27. "We Are Soldiers, Our Duty Is To Win." [4:04]
28. Public Torture, Random Killing [2:37]
29. August 26, 1957: Ramel and Murad [3:41]
30. September 24, 1957: Jaffar [3:40]
31. "Ali La Pointe Is Still Free" [3:54]
32. Mahmud, Hassiba, Omar, and Ali [4:56]
33. December 11, 1960: Uprising [4:36]
34. "Long Live Algeria!" [2:47]
Disc #2 -- Battle of Algiers
1. Introduction [2:56]
2. Youth and Politics [7:34]
3. Kap� To the Battle of Algiers [8:36]
4. Burn! and Ogro [10:00]
5. Burden of His Convictions [6:11]
6. Questions Raised [2:09]
1. "A Marxist Poet" [2:32]
2. Gillo and Franco [3:17]
3. Par� To the Battle of Algiers [7:28]
4. Finding the Right Face [6:09]
5. "Reportage, Reportage" [2:51]
6. "The Heart of the Subject" [6:03]
7. Under Gillo's Direction [7:05]
8. Editing and Music [7:56]
9. The Golden Lion [5:06]
10. Epilogue [2:47]
1. Five Directors as Viewers [5:58]
2. The Choices Pontecorvo Made [3:56]
3. Poetry and Politics [3:41]
4. Making Political Films Today [3:38]
Disc #3 -- Battle of Algiers
1. Introductions [3:28]
2. The Film and History [1:46]
3. Colonization / The Algerians Organize [11:43]
4. November 1, 1954: The War Begins [6:36]
5. From Country To City / FLN Leadership [7:04]
6. Bombings and Retaliations [12:54]
7. The Battle of Algiers [8:38]
8. Torture [7:10]
9. The Battle Ends, the War Continues [6:49]
10. Epilogue [2:35]
1. A City at War [3:56]
2. "Cop Work" [2:02]
3. "Everyone Must Talk" [3:23]
4. Dirty Work [2:53]
5. Larbi Ben M'Hidi [4:40]
6. War Crimes [4:06]
7. Approval From the Top [7:21]
1. Terrorism [9:03]
2. Torture [5:46]
3. "Hearts & Minds" [1:37]
4. Lessons [8:10]
1. Credits / Boudiaf Assassinated [5:05]
2. Twenty-Seven Years Later [4:27]
3. Fearing a Fundamentalist State [5:00]
4. Memory Lane [8:30]
5. Islam and the Media [5:46]
6. Islamic Identity [3:40]
7. Acceptance and Access [7:34]
8. Two Worlds [7:06]
9. The Casbah, 1992: Empty Promises [9:13]
10. A Final Conversation With Boudiaf [1:40]

Scene Index

Editorial Reviews

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, or impact; but his place film history is assured nonetheless, if only on the strength of this powerfully affecting movie. Ed Hulse, Barnes & Noble

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Customer Reviews

Viewer Rating:
Ratings: 5Reviews: 2

all too realby Anonymous

Reader Rating:
See Detailed Ratings

October 17, 2006: While shot on a low budget under severe constraints the director was truly engaged in this work, and this is not lost on the pellicule. This work conveys a troubling but encouraging anti-imperialist message, and its characters, while we know little of their personal lives --"lacking character developement?" whatever mr reviewer...- draws us into the conflit on a much deeper human level. -oui, oui, ce sont des humaines vivant là-bas- (as opposed to FR-vs-ALgérie) perspective. A true testament to the Algerienne people and the human spirit is this film. !! faut finir avec la françafrique !! -- Si le sol algérien n'ait jamais fait partie de la territoire française alors comment peut-on dire que les hommes qui ont lutter contre l'impérialisme français s'agissaient-ils des "rébels" ? -- -- "On récolte ce que l'on sème" Si ces mots sont véridiques, alors faits gaffe à vos fesses dirégants de la fransoeur ! ---

So real, FLN rebels played the roles as the FLNby Anonymous

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July 11, 2004: Arguably the most authentic war film of all time. Shot and produced only a few years after unconditional withdraw form Algeria, the French government immediately banned this film--for a society that takes such pride in its cinematic accomplishments, for it to ban such a highly acclaimed project says something to the film's credit. As NPR reported in the early phases of the Iraq war last year, the US military studied this film, as suggested by Rand Corporation and other ITs and think tanks, as part of the preperation for fighting an urban warfare in a medina al-Bali. What NPR failed to mention was how the French fought this battle: torture, including washboarding.

Barnes & Noble

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, or impact; but his place film history is assured nonetheless, if only on the strength of this powerfully affecting movie. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

This highly political film about the Algerian struggle for independence from France took "Best Film" honors at the 1966 Venice Film Festival. The bulk of the film is shot in flashback, presented as the memories of Ali (Brahim Haggiag), a leading member of the Algerian Front de Liberation Nationale (FLN), when finally captured by the French in 1957. Three years earlier, Ali was a petty thief who joined the secretive organization in order to help rid the Casbah of vice associated with the colonial government. The film traces the rebels' struggle and the increasingly extreme measures taken by the French government to quell what soon becomes a nationwide revolt. After the flashback, Ali and the last of the FLN leaders are killed, and the film takes on a more general focus, leading to the declaration of Algerian independence in 1962. Director Gillo Pontecorvo's careful re-creation of a complicated guerrilla struggle presents a rather partisan view of some complex social and political issues, which got the film banned in France for many years. That should not come as a surprise, for La Battaglia di Algeri was subsidized by the Algerian government and -- with the exception of Jean Martin and Tommaso Neri as French officers -- the cast was entirely Algerian as well. At least three versions exist, running 135, 125, and 120 minutes. Robert Firsching

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UPC: 037429195628
Source: CRITERION
Aspect Ratio: Theatre Wide-Screen (1.85.1)
Presentation: B&W, Wide Screen
Sound: Dolby Digital Mono
Language: Fran�ais, Arabic
Subtitles: English
Time: 2:01:00
Sales Rank: 6,149

Features:

Disc 1: New high-definition digital transfer of The Battle of Algiers, supervised by cinematographer Marcello Gratti, with restored image and sound, and enhanced for widescreen televisions; 1992's Return to Algiers, with director Gillo Pontecorvo and his son; theatrical and re-release trailers; poster gallery.
Disc 2: "The Making of The Battle of Algiers, an exclusive new documentary; "The Dictatorship of Truth," a 37-minute documentary narrated by Edward Said; "Directors on The Battle of Algiers," with Spike Lee, Mira Nair, Julian Schnabel, Steven Soderbergh, and Oliver Stone.
Disc 3: "The Battle of Algiers and History," a new documentary featuring interviews with historians Alistair Horne, Hugh Roberts and Benjamin Stora, former FLN members Zohra Drif-Bitat, Mohammed Harbi and Saadi Yacef, and writer and torture victim, Henri Alleg; "Etats d'Armies," a 30-minute excerpt from Patrick Rotman's 3-part documentary, L'Ennemi Intime; "How to Win the Battle But Lose the War of Ideas," a conversation about the contemporary relevance of The Battle of Algiers between former National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism Richard A. Clarke, former State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Michael A. Sheehan, and Chief of Investigative Projects for ABC News, Christopher E. Isham.
Plus: A booklet featuring a new essay by film scholar Peter Matthews; a reprinted interview with writer Franco Solinas; and brief biographies on the key figures in the French-Algerian War.

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Battle of Algiers
1. Opening Titles: Algiers, 1957 [6:40]
2. Algiers, 1954: Ali La Pointe [3:13]
3. Witness To an Execution [2:27]
4. Message From Jaffar [5:38]
5. FLN Communiqu� No. 24 [4:03]
6. A Wedding Ceremony [2:39]
7. June 20, 1956, 10:32... [2:09]
8. Police Precinct [2:29]
9. Barricades and Barbed Wire [:47]
10. July 20, 1956, 11:20... [4:44]
11. No. 8 the Casbah [4:56]
12. "The FLN Will Avenge You!" [1:39]
13. Three Women [6:53]
14. Three Bombs [5:46]
15. Paratroopers Arrive [1:22]
16. A Faceless Enemy [5:07]
17. General Strike [3:12]
18. Larbi Ben M'Hidi [4:15]
19. Raiding the Casbah [3:08]
20. A Word From Col. Mathieu [1:58]
21. Intelligence Gathering [2:05]
22. Day Six of the Strike [2:06]
23. Un Resolution [3:50]
24. Four FLN Leaders [5:49]
25. February 25, 1957: The Racetrack [1:19]
26. Press Conference With Ben M'Hidi [2:38]
27. "We Are Soldiers, Our Duty Is To Win." [4:04]
28. Public Torture, Random Killing [2:37]
29. August 26, 1957: Ramel and Murad [3:41]
30. September 24, 1957: Jaffar [3:40]
31. "Ali La Pointe Is Still Free" [3:54]
32. Mahmud, Hassiba, Omar, and Ali [4:56]
33. December 11, 1960: Uprising [4:36]
34. "Long Live Algeria!" [2:47]
Disc #2 -- Battle of Algiers
1. Introduction [2:56]
2. Youth and Politics [7:34]
3. Kap� To the Battle of Algiers [8:36]
4. Burn! and Ogro [10:00]
5. Burden of His Convictions [6:11]
6. Questions Raised [2:09]
1. "A Marxist Poet" [2:32]
2. Gillo and Franco [3:17]
3. Par� To the Battle of Algiers [7:28]
4. Finding the Right Face [6:09]
5. "Reportage, Reportage" [2:51]
6. "The Heart of the Subject" [6:03]
7. Under Gillo's Direction [7:05]
8. Editing and Music [7:56]
9. The Golden Lion [5:06]
10. Epilogue [2:47]
1. Five Directors as Viewers [5:58]
2. The Choices Pontecorvo Made [3:56]
3. Poetry and Politics [3:41]
4. Making Political Films Today [3:38]
Disc #3 -- Battle of Algiers
1. Introductions [3:28]
2. The Film and History [1:46]
3. Colonization / The Algerians Organize [11:43]
4. November 1, 1954: The War Begins [6:36]
5. From Country To City / FLN Leadership [7:04]
6. Bombings and Retaliations [12:54]
7. The Battle of Algiers [8:38]
8. Torture [7:10]
9. The Battle Ends, the War Continues [6:49]
10. Epilogue [2:35]
1. A City at War [3:56]
2. "Cop Work" [2:02]
3. "Everyone Must Talk" [3:23]
4. Dirty Work [2:53]
5. Larbi Ben M'Hidi [4:40]
6. War Crimes [4:06]
7. Approval From the Top [7:21]
1. Terrorism [9:03]
2. Torture [5:46]
3. "Hearts & Minds" [1:37]
4. Lessons [8:10]
1. Credits / Boudiaf Assassinated [5:05]
2. Twenty-Seven Years Later [4:27]
3. Fearing a Fundamentalist State [5:00]
4. Memory Lane [8:30]
5. Islam and the Media [5:46]
6. Islamic Identity [3:40]
7. Acceptance and Access [7:34]
8. Two Worlds [7:06]
9. The Casbah, 1992: Empty Promises [9:13]
10. A Final Conversation With Boudiaf [1:40]

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Disc #1 -- Battle of Algiers
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Disc #2 -- Battle of Algiers
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Disc #3 -- Battle of Algiers
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Performance Credits
Brahim Haggiag (Films)		Ali La Pointe
Yacef Saadi (Films)		Kader
Jean Martin (Films)		Colonel Mathieu
Tommaso Neri (Films)		Captain
Fawzia el Kader		Halima
Michele Kerbash		Fathia
Mohamed Ben Kassen		Little Omar, Petit Omar
Samia Kerbash		Arabian girl, One of the girls
Technical Credits
Gillo Pontecorvo		Director, Score Composer, Screenwriter
Sergio Canevari		Production Designer
Marcello Gatti		Cinematographer
Mario Morra		Editor
Ennio Morricone		Score Composer
Antonio Musu		Producer
Yacef Saadi		Producer
Mario Serandrei		Editor
Franco Solinas		Screenwriter

Criterion Collection - The Battle of Algiers
a.k.a. The Battle of Algiers, La Bataille d'Alger, La Battaglia di Algeri Director: Gillo Pontecorvo Cast: Brahim Haggiag, Yacef Saadi, Jean Martin, Tommaso Neri

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Scene Index

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all too realby Anonymous

So real, FLN rebels played the roles as the FLNby Anonymous

Barnes & Noble

All Movie Guide

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Criterion Collection - The Battle of Algiersa.k.a. The Battle of Algiers, La Bataille d'Alger, La Battaglia di Algeri Director: Gillo Pontecorvo Cast: Brahim Haggiag, Yacef Saadi, Jean Martin, Tommaso Neri

BUY THIS ITEM

Customers who bought this also bought

Features

Scene Index

Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

all too realby Anonymous

So real, FLN rebels played the roles as the FLNby Anonymous

Barnes & Noble

All Movie Guide

Product Details

Features:

Scene Index

DVD MENU

Performance Credits

Technical Credits

Related DVD Genres

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Criterion Collection - The Battle of Algiers
a.k.a. The Battle of Algiers, La Bataille d'Alger, La Battaglia di Algeri Director: Gillo Pontecorvo Cast: Brahim Haggiag, Yacef Saadi, Jean Martin, Tommaso Neri

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Fans of this DVD