Gillo Pontecorvo’s 60s classic draws the battle lines between French colonialists and Algerian resistance members in a pulsating, fly-on-the-wall documentary style.
Pontecorvo’s use of real locations (the very streets where the events depicted in the film had taken place a few years before), non-professional actors, and handheld camera give this drama the immediacy of breaking news –- an impression that still holds true today, given the film’s hard, level-headed look at the deadly struggle between Algerian resistance fighters and a western occupying force. It is a definitive film driven by one of Ennio Morricone’s greatest scores.
And although Pontecorvo didn’t make any bones about where his sympathies lay, the film is scrupulously fair. Banned in France for many years, and censored in both Britain and the US, The Battle of Algiers was celebrated by international left-wing movements throughout the late 60s and beyond.
Born in Pisa, the son of a wealthy Jewish businessman, Gilberto Pontecorvo earned a degree in chemistry from the University of Pisa. With Italy turning fascist he fled to Paris, where he worked as a correspondent for Repubblica and Paesa Sera and as an assistant to the Dutch documentarian Joris Ivens and French thriller director Yves Allegret.
Pontecorvo joined the Communist Party in 1941 and returned to Italy to become a leader of the Partisans in Milan. After the war, Rossellini’s Paisa inspired him buy a 16mm camera and he began making documentaries in 1953.
Sunday’s Pantheon screening will be preceded by a 15 minute introductory lecture and feature a book club-style discussion afterwards.
Nov 17: Intro by Sarah Shamash, Assistant Professor of Critical and Cultural Studies at Emily Carr University
Sarah Shamash is an Assistant Professor of Critical and Cultural Studies at Emily Carr University and seasonal lecturer at UBC. Her artworks comprise the use of media in a wide variety formats, such as installation, documentary, photography, sound, performance, and video. Her work has been shown in curated exhibitions and film festivals internationally and has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and BC Arts Council.
Presented by
Gillo Pontecorvo
Brahim Haggiag, Jean Martin, Saadi Yacef, Colonel Mathieu, Samia Kerbash, Fusia El Kader, Ugo Paletti, Mohamed Ben Kassen
Italy
1966
In French and Arabic with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Credits
Producer
Saadi Yacef
Screenwriter
Gillo Pontecorvo, Franco Solinas
Cinematography
Marcello Gatti
Editor
Mario Morra, Mario Serandrei
Original Music
Ennio Morricone, Gillo Pontecorvo
Production Design
Sergio Canevari
Also in This Series
Les Enfants du Paradis (Children of Paradise)
The crowning glory of classical French cinema, this sumptuous melodrama brings to life the early 19th century Boulevard du Crime in Paris, where popular audiences for mime shows and carnival rub shoulders with wealthy patrons of classical theatre.
The Wild Bunch (Director's Cut)
The Mexico/Texas borderlands, 1913: Pike (William Holden) leads his gang of aging outlaws on a foray south for one last hurrah. Peckinpah's masterpiece, a savage lament for men who believe in nothing but find respect by dying in vain.
The Ascent
During the darkest winter of WWII, two Soviet partisans venture through the backwoods of Belarus in search of food, always at risk of falling into enemy hands. In her masterpiece Larisa Shepitko zeroes in on profound spiritual and philosophical themes.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Céline Sciamma's queer costume drama -- about a painter covertly studying a young noblewoman who refuses to sit for her portrait -- was voted 30th Greatest Film Ever Made in a 2022 poll, the highest ranking film of the past decade.
I Am Cuba
Infused with a palpable love for the country and a righteous anger at the injustices of the Batista era, I Am Cuba features some of the jaw-dropping camerawork ever filmed. A euphoric celebration of Cuba, the Revolution, and revolutionary cinema.
The Colour of Pomegranates + The House Is Black
This month's Pantheon screening is a double-bill, Sergei Parajanov's extraordinary evocation of the life and work of C18th Armenian poet Sayat Nova, and, The House is Black (22 min), the only film directed by the great Iranian poet Forugh Farrokhzad.
Fantasia
Walt Disney pushed the boundaries of animation and sound recording when he put together a movie concert: eight classical pieces by Bach, Beethoven, Stravinski et al, each animated in a different style. It's playful, sometimes cute, other times inspired.
Image: © Disney, 1940