The Battle Of Algiers Essay

Gillo Pontecorvo’s masterful film The Battle of Algiers artfully depicts the violent Algerian uprising from 1954-1962 against French colonial rule in the city of Algiers. Pontecorvo’s film is one of the most historically accurate representations about decolonization in the 20th century. When the film was first released, it was banned in France due to its controversial subject and realistic depiction of the violent methods both used during the Algerian uprising. Pontecorvo is brutally honest in his depiction of the atrocities that the FLN and French authorities committed during the battle. The Battle of Algiers is a stunning example of how the transition to decolonization does not occur peacefully. Whilst the FLN initiated the Algerian uprising in the 1950s, the Mau Mau were also fighting for independence in Kenya. The FLN and the Mau Mau employ the same ideology of nationalism as a justification for their violent actions. The FLN and the Mau Mau both show little regard for European life and attack public places without remorse. In the mid-20th century, the ideology of decolonization and independence grew rapidly among the colonized. A vast majority of rebellions were based upon nationalist ideologies and grew out of a need for violence. During these

French Martinique philosopher and revolutionary Frantz Fanon states in his book, The Wretched of the Earth, that decolonization is inherently fraught with violence and cannot occur peacefully. Fanon’s ideology that violence is a necessity for decolonization is evident in The Battle of Algiers where the FLN’s attacks on European and Muslim civilians and the French authorities use of torture to extract information resulted in a brutal conflict that lasted for nearly eight years and claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of