I became aware of the movie The Battle of Algiers, and the event of the same name, during English 101 and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. I have never been a fan of war, or movies about war, but I have had a change of heart since viewing this movie. As much as I tend to express a love for history I actually no very little about the historical events that have taken place throughout the world. So among other things, this movie has set me on a quest for knowledge.
It has also taught me much about the unjust manner in which the French government treated the Algerians during the colonization. Though I imagine no form of colonization ever really goes well? I imagine the discussion would go something like this:
French - "Hi, we like your little piece of land and hope you don't mind too much but we would very much like to take it over."
Algerians - " No problem - what's ours is yours."
French - "ok, thanks that really means alot to us Frenchies."
Ok, so you get the idea and see that it would never, ever work out that way? It is more like the French invade Algeria and inhabit the country for 100+ years. The French basically move into Algeria and push the Algerians aside. They take their land, their jobs, and even take away their right to vote. I guess the French basically tried to do what the Americans did with the native Indians, and what the British did with the Australian aborigines. Only the Algerians were not going to sit back and take it any longer. They either wanted to be treated as equal citizens, and if that was not possible then they wanted the French to get out.
If you know more than I do then you already know the ending to the battle of Algiers, if not I will not spoil the ending and you can go and watch it.
I must add that the movies director, Gillo Pontecorvo created a fantastic production. So well in fact that the movie appears much like a doctumentary of the battle, rather than a movie about the event. The movie is in French but has English subtitles - so keep your eyes on the screen.
Oh, and make sure you take some time to watch the two extra dvds as they have interviews with various people who were involved in the actual battle. Very interesting!
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