The film The Battle of Algiers (1966), directed by Gillo Pontecorvo, depicts the violent struggle between the National Liberation Front (FLN) and the French government in Algiers, the capital city of Algeria. It takes place in the beginning years of the Algerian War of Independence (which waged from 1954-1962) and how the FLN used guerilla tactics in the Casbah of Algiers. It predominantly follows the perspectives of two characters Ali La Pointe (Brahim Hadjadj) a young Algerian criminal who is recruited into the FLN, and Colonel Mathieu (Jean Martin) the commanding French military officer who aims at destroying the FLN by any means necessary. The film does a great job at showing us both sides of the conflict, the Algerians who struggle and are persecuted under French colonial rule, and that of the French who have colonized and occupied Algeria for a number of years prior. The film also strongly and vividly depicts the heinous human rights violations done by the French on the Algerian people, through means of torture and targeted killings of civilians. The Battle of Algiers also brings attention to the question of; at what cost and how much violence is necessary to achieve independence while being constantly persecuted by those occupying one’s homeland?
From what I gathered on Frantz Fanon and his work The Wretched of the Earth, there is a great presence of a psychological factor when it comes to understanding colonization and the treatment of natives in the occupied land. Countries which colonize (in this case France) areas of the world that greatly differ from themselves in culture, language, and religion are more prone to persecuting the native population (in this case the Algerians). It comes down to culture, language, and religion primarily because those make up who the natives are as a society, and when a new country arrives they institute their way of life on those people; and if the natives resist violence can ensue. Now, fast-forward a couple decades and we can see the events of The Battle of Algiers unfold because after several decades under French colonial rule, the Algerians have had enough of cultural, societal, and religious persecution they have no other choice but to resort to a revolution fought on the streets of the Casbah.
Now we may apply the film, The Battle of Algiers, to the study of religion and how colonialism shaped and affected the religion of those whose lands were occupied by European countries. Fanon speaks on how colonialism degraded the religious norms of the Algerian people and this is exemplified throughout The Battle of Algiers. Col. Mathieu for instance uses gross language when he says, “cut the head off the tapeworm” referring to destroying the FLN and as tapeworms strongly implies Col. Mathieu’s prejudice and hatred toward the Algerian people. While watching this movie I also could not help but think of the current geopolitical situation faced in the Middle East today. Islamic terrorist organizations such as the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and ISIS are currently waging a guerilla war in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria and other parts of the world that they claim in based on religion. While the current situation is different from Algerian War of Independence I think that colonial history may still be a reason as to why we see violent conflicts in the Middle East still today. Take for instance the Israel-Palestine Conflict, after World War II the British, who held and occupied the land of modern day Israel, gave Jewish people their land in the Levant and drew lines on a map declaring and displacing Palestinians into the areas known as the Gaza Strip and the West Bank creating strife and tension in the region for well over the past fifty years. This action of European nations entering foreign lands, occupying them, and changing the natives’ way of life is something that has changed and shaped the way we perceive and even study different religions in other parts of the world.
In conclusion, I think that a key takeaway from the movie The Battle of Algiers is that as long as a colonial power is oppressing and persecuting those who are native to the land, they may never truly have peace and harmony within their colony. Maybe if the French hadn’t treated the Algerians differently because they were African or Muslim violence wouldn’t had erupted in the Casbah and there could’ve been a peaceful transition to independence eventually. As the FLN knew that the only way they could truly win their independence was to eventually end the violence and either go to the United Nations for a resolution or meet the French at a peace talk table.
Norris' Cinema Reviews 