The Battle of Algiers (1966) Most movies take the side of either the victor or the oppressed. Surprisingly, this film gives a fair representation of the event said to have snowballed the fight for Algerian Independence. In the late 1950s, many ethnic Arab Muslims from Casbah of the Arab quarters started showing resistance to the French colonialists. FLN was a guerrilla organisation with a ragtag collection of delinquents, petty thieves and activists who created unrest in Algiers who started planting bombs and shooting of policemen in the European quarters. 1957 Algiers was a bustling modern city with its cafes, entertainment outlets, gambling den and flesh trade. We can see that there was an apparent divide rooted in the society, between the Arab Muslims and the Western outlooking French, Pied-Noir and Jews; between the economically deprived and the well-to-do; the colonial masters and natives. Most films of historical nature would usually include raw footage from newsreel or n...
It is all Mimesis