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Battle of Algiers
This film is commonly seen as a cinema classic because it is based on events that happened between 1954 – 62, during the Algerian struggle for independence from the French colonialists. The action in the film revolves around a group of rebels (National Liberation Front) plus their charismatic leader. This group uses all techniques at their disposal to provoke the French to leave their nation. The film opens with a distressed member of the militia giving into the French soldiers’ torture and disclosing the identity as well as the whereabouts of La Pointe. In addition, the film reverts to 1954 illustrating the mounting anxiety between the French and the Arabs within Algiers. The film portrays the historical fact that rebels carried out a series of assaults on colonial police resulting in a crackdown (Casbah, Arab quarter Algiers). In history, it is known that the colonial masters established checkpoints and curfews to derail rebel efforts. However, attacks persisted because weapons were concealed in street cars, allowing perpetrators to skirt inspections.
Algeria is a former French colony, and Muslim Algerians were denied their rights granted to European counterparts. For instance, few Muslims could vote, and they also faced higher taxes. By the 1930s, Algerian resistance movements started to emerge. They launched guerilla assaults on government targets, and rebels under the National Liberation Front umbrella moved into Algiers (Pontecorvo 1966.) It is noteworthy that all Muslim Algerians engaged in the fight for independence. The ones who were appointed by the French colonization were referred to as Harkis. All in all, the film tried to reconstruct the events that transpired a few years earlier.
A number of items are present in the historical record in this film. They include terrorism, torture, politics, culture, and independence. The revolutionary nature has long been associated with Arab terrorism. As a matter of fact, people have created stereotypes about Arab and Muslim culture with terrorism. On the other hand, it can be said that this revolutionary nature can benefit people by delivering independence. In the film, it is evident that the locals perceive that the best way to make French colonialists leave their land is through a revolution, utilizing guerilla warfare. In comparison, such techniques are likely to lead to torture as the rulers inflict their subjects with misery in an effort to quell their uprising. Indeed, some cultures can see an uprising as a safe technique to attain liberation while others would never welcome it. It is noteworthy that the politics of the day fuel the struggle between subjects and their masters. For instance, in this film, the French colonialists did not give some citizens the right to vote. The struggle for power is also evident throughout the film as different races/classes struggle for control over the country and its resources. One thing outside the sphere of possibility given the historical event involves some of the images portrayed in the film. For instance, the film concludes with an image that like other films’ scenes has emerged a cliché, often produced as an agent of filmmaker’s capturing a critical phase in the history of freedom struggles throughout the world. In particular, the scene is led by a blank screen reading “July 2, 1962: the Algerian nation is born” (Roberts 381-391). It is noteworthy that the screen presents this phrase in a manner that conflates image and text, allegorizing an anonymous dancing woman. As the film suggests, it is she who sees the nation and signifies the start of a new Africa. Nevertheless, this is certainly a powerful image given the period depicted in the film.

The film succeeds in portraying the struggle for independence in most countries. Time and again, the colonialists subjected the natives to oppression in an effort to silence them. Prior and during the revolution, it is known that a group of people were not given equal rights and or access to resources thus triggering the conflict. As portrayed throughout this film, inequality was strengthened via the ideology of superiority and entitlement. Consequently, this contributed to violence, which itself exacerbated and perpetuated the injustice that was already inherent in the nature of the relationship between the European colonizers and the natives. In any case, injustice is known to breed conflict. As such, the feeling of injustice must have existed earlier and only reached a boiling point during the uprising. This theme was prevalent around the world as the natives fought colonizers using different tactics. On the whole, part of the population felt that it was deprived and consequently sought to respond. In most cases, this gave rise to the uprising against European colonizers and their regime ( Roberts, 4). In conclusion, the film succeeds in capturing the events and history surrounding the struggle for independence in the country. For instance, its conflict spiral model portrays escalation as an outcome of increasingly heavier reprisal between these two parties. As an outcome of the status quo, Arab Algerians triggered a vicious cycle by attacking police and the French personnel engaged in collective punishment. This was the nature of the uprising.

Works cited
Pontecorvo Gillo. The Battle of Algiers, Casbah/Igor Films (Algeria/Italy), 1966.
Roberts Katherine. Constrained militants. The Journal of North African Studies Vol. 12, No. 4, December 2007. P. 381-391.
ROI World. Film analysis: injustice and conflict escalation in The Battle of Algiers. Web. 07 Oct. 2010. Available from http://roiword.wordpress.com/2010/10/07/film-analysis- injustice-and-escalation-in-the-battle-of-algiers/