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September 23, 2005
The Battle of Algiers
The Battle of Algiers (1965), Gillo Pontecorvo:
Concerning our present situation, this is a perfect companion piece to Gunner Palace, both are opposite and surprisingly unemotional and unbiased views of a foreign occupation. It's not perfect, since Iraq is much more legitimate a military action, but the parallels still made me pause.
In whose footsteps Z would later follow, The Battle of Algiers shows that a documentary-style approach can be all the more powerful, invoking less Hollywood storytelling or political propaganda* (well-meaning or no) and more reflection of real-world situations. Living in the Western wold, it's not often we see a view from the occupied or the subjected. When the protagonists detonate bombs in public, you realize it's meant for us, and it's these opposite reactions that are the most enlightening. I much rather prefer a movie that makes you think than something like Hotel Rwanda which, as good as its intentions were, strives to make you feel bad.
14/15
*Of course, the storytelling and political intentions are top-notch, or else it wouldn't be compelling at all.
Posted by bing at September 23, 2005 11:23 AM