The Battle of Algiers

The Battle of Algiers
U.S. theatrical release poster
Italian: La battaglia di Algeri Arabic: Maʿrakat al-Jazāʾir
Directed by	Gillo Pontecorvo
Written by	Franco Solinas
Story by	Franco Solinas Gillo Pontecorvo
Based on	Souvenirs de la Bataille d'Alger by Saadi Yacef
Produced by	Antonio Musu Saadi Yacef
Starring	Jean Martin Saadi Yacef Brahim Haggiag Tommaso Neri
Cinematography	Marcello Gatti
Edited by	Mario Morra Mario Serandrei
Music by	Ennio Morricone Gillo Pontecorvo
Production companies	Igor Film Casbah Film
Distributed by	Allied Artists (USA)
Release dates	August 31, 1966 (1966-08-31) (Venice) September 9, 1966 (1966-09-09) (Italy) September 27, 1966 (1966-09-27) (Algeria)
Running time	136 minutes (Original version) 120 minutes (Cut version for theaters)[1]
Countries	Italy Algeria
Languages	Arabic French
Budget	$806,735
Box office	$879,794 (domestic)[2]

The Battle of Algiers (Italian: La battaglia di Algeri; Arabic: معركة الجزائر, romanized: Maʿrakat al-Jazāʾir) is a 1966 Italian-Algerian war film co-written and directed by Gillo Pontecorvo. It is based on action undertaken by rebels during the Algerian War (1954–1962) against the French government in North Africa, the most prominent being the eponymous Battle of Algiers, the capital of Algeria. It was shot on location in a Roberto Rossellini-inspired newsreel style: in black and white with documentary-type editing to add to its sense of historical authenticity, with mostly non-professional actors who had lived through the real battle. The film's score was composed by Pontecorvo and Ennio Morricone. It is often associated with Italian neorealist cinema.^[3]

The film concentrates mainly on revolutionary fighter Ali La Pointe during the years between 1954 and 1957, when guerrilla fighters of the FLN went into Algiers. Their actions were met by French paratroopers attempting to regain territory. The highly dramatic film is about the organization of a guerrilla movement and the illegal methods, such as torture, used by the French to stop it. Algeria succeeded in gaining independence from the French, which Pontecorvo addresses in the film's epilogue.^[4]

The film was met with international acclaim, and it is considered to be one of the greatest films of all time. It won the Golden Lion at the 27th Venice Film Festival among other awards and nominations. It also was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. A subject of sociopolitical controversy in France, the film was not screened in the country for five years.^[1] Insurgent groups and state authorities have considered it to be an important commentary on urban guerrilla warfare. In Sight and Sound's 2022 poll of the greatest films of all time, it ranked 45th on the critics' list and 22nd with directors.

In 2008, the film was included on the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage's 100 Italian films to be saved, a list of 100 films that "have changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978."^[5]