Fifty Years of The Battle of Algiers: Past as Prologue

Forerunners: Ideas First

by Sohail Daulatzai

The Battle of Algiers, a 1966 film that poetically captures Algerian resistance to French colonial occupation, is widely considered one of the greatest political films of all time. With an artistic defiance that matched the boldness of the anticolonial struggles of the time, it was embraced across the political spectrum—from leftist groups like the Black Panther Party and the Palestine Liberation Organization to right-wing juntas in the 1970s and later, the Pentagon in 2003. With a philosophical nod to Frantz Fanon, Sohail Daulatzai demonstrates that tracing the film’s afterlife reveals a larger story about how dreams of freedom were shared and crushed in the fifty years since its release. As the War on Terror expands and the “threat” of the Muslim looms, The Battle of Algiers is more than an artifact of the past—it’s a prophetic testament to the present and a cautionary tale of an imperial future, as perpetual war has been declared on permanent unrest.

Forerunners: Ideas First is a thought-in-process series of breakthrough digital publications. Written between fresh ideas and finished books, Forerunners draws on scholarly work initiated in notable blogs, social media, conference plenaries, journal articles, and the synergy of academic exchange. This is gray literature publishing: where intense thinking, change, and speculation take place in scholarship.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, Africa, Academic

106 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 9, 2016

Reviews

[Daniel Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really cool book about the the film "The Battle of Algiers".

At first I was confused because this is not primarily about the production, the script, etc. but rather about the legacy - but I was NOT disappointed, this book is even better than I was hoping for.

Ch. 1 "Third World Dreams" provides a background to the Third World Mov't, decolonization, and other anti-imperialist motives.

Ch. 2 "Fanon as Prophet, Algeria as Revolutionary Mecca" is about the writing of Franz Fanon and the role that Algeria played in real-life revolutionary politics. I had no idea that Algeria was involved with so many anti-colonialist movements throughout Africa. This chapter also expands this to a global significance, with similar movements in Latin America and the US.

Cha. 3 "The Camera as Gun" is just a few pages about the beginnings of this type of film - one that focuses on the oppressed and radical politics.

Ch. 4 ""Taking Aim: Shooting the Revolution" is about the film itself - how Yacef and Pontecorvo collaborated using Yacef's own memoir as the basis, how they cooperated with the Algerian government to produce the film, how they chose the actors. It includes about 10 pages of photographs from the movie.

Ch. 5 "The Battle of Everywhere" is by far the most fascinating chapter - and this is NOT a slight against the other chapters, they were great! But this chapter is about the global significance of the film as an inspiration to both radical and counterinsurgency groups. The Shah and the Islamic Republic, Castro's Cuba as the sponsor of all sorts of third-world movments, Che in Bolivia, dictatorships in Uruguay and Chile, the Mexican government and the students of Tlateloco, the EZLN, Black Power, Black Panther, the Chicago Eight from 1968, the Red Army Faction of Germany, the Weather Underground of the US, African American and Chicano movements in the US, Ariel Sharon of Israel and also the PLO - and many other examples which I have left out. It is amazing how influential this film was, after reading this book I would argue that this is one of the most influential films of all time. And the intriguing irony that both leftists and governments can see themselves in this film.

Ch. 6 "The 9/11 Present" is about the current signficiance of the film. The author notes that the film was screened by the Pentagon and used by the CIA and senior officials of the Bush administration to design their policy in Iraq (perhaps that explains the torture . . . ). A major shift is that through that US government lens, the film loses its significance as a universalist representation of colonial conflict and instead becomes a "how-to" for combatting Muslims, all without asking WHY the US is involved in its Mid-East conflicts to begin with. This is a strong conclusion and critique.

I enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it.

[Pip · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Quick read and felt a bit superficial in places (especially where it was just reeling off a list of places The Battle of Algiers was screened), and a tendency to repeat itself, but some really interesting stuff about Algeria. I always like it when I come away from books with a reading list of new books to read.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty interesting history of the film. However, I think it is very clear this author has a very strong political perspective, and though I don't think it is necessarily a bad thing, it means he overlooks potential critiques of "his side."

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Demonstrating the impacts of "The Battle of Algiers", Sohail Daulatzai details how the film inspired colonized peoples to resist their oppression and engage in international solidarity building. The film's realism, nuance, and sympathies with the oppressed Algerians caused the book to be censored by several colonizing and oppressive powers, such as France, Israel, and the apartheid government in South Africa and Namibia. Although institutions such as the Pentagon studied the film as a part of their "anti-insurgency" efforts, Daulatzai eloquently concludes that they do so because they *fear* the film's truths. Going off this, he draws on many parallels between the French and American empires, which illuminates the continuation of imperialism and white domination. This history presented serves as a reminder of the importance of recognizing the struggle of all oppressed and colonized people as interconnected.

I really enjoyed the parts of the book that focused on the importance of the city of Algiers both symbolically and spatially. I wish the book captured more on Algeria after 1965, especially since the film and Fanon both commented on the perils of nationalism in the post-independence period. In addition, the book lacked analysis on some of the film's themes that remain true today. I believe Daulatzai could've made a connection between the narratives surrounding the FLN's mobilization in 1954 and the Arab uprisings of 2011. In the film, Col. Mathieu states that "there are 400,000 Arabs in Algiers. Are they all our enemy? We know they're not, but a small minority holds sway by means of terror and violence." This Orientalist narrative places the Algerians (and other colonized people) in an inferior position, as it implies their desire r liberation was planted in them by some sort of external force. The same narrative was applied in 2011, when the Arab uprisings were labelled a "spring", implying that the Arabs had finally "awakened." These media outlets credited the circulation of "Western ideals" of freedom and democracy via (Western-created) social media as the cause of their aspirations. This almost mirrors the rhetoric expressed by French in Algiers over 50 years ago, just in 2011 it received more positive coverage because media outlets suggested that protests were only directed at oppressive Arab regimes (but not the West, which had backed these countries' governments and supported neoliberal restructuring that created the dire conditions that caused such uprisings to occur). Had Daulatzai included more analysis that exhibited a fifty-year-long battle, I would have given the book a better rating.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay combination of decolonial theory and a film case study. Whilst the first 3/4 of the book analysing the film and the film’s influence were a bit boring and tedious, the final essay tying it all into a great essay on decolonisation and anti-colonial theory was excellent. Would recommend the last 20 pages (the prologue) for anyone wanting to understand anti-colonial philosophies and the thought of Frantz Fanon. It’s a great lesson on why many of us support armed resistance against a colonial force in revolutionary situations. Colonialism is the first act of violence and resistance is self defence.

The first half of the book wasn’t an easy read though. I was tempted to not keep reading but I’m glad I did because the prologue was worth it.

[squishious]

frankly obligatory reading if u watch the film, it really does help contextualize the content, creation, and artistic choices. very glad i got a hard copy bc i think i will be using this as a jumping off point for more research into the third world cinema movement.
also, a very succint + easy to follow introduction to the interconnected nature of liberation movements for someone looking to know more but maybe not wanting to start with denser academic writing.

[Aaron Schuschu · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Algeria bits were interesting, the boilerplate criticism of Bush, not so much.