Watching the intensely political movie "The Battle of Algiers" from 1967

[Lex]

and to say it is relevant today in the Iraq fiasco/US occupation is an understatement.

It's filmed in the style of a documentary, and in black and white. An amazing film.

Netflix has it.

Here's a interesting wiki entry on it and what it's about and its implications:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_of_Algiers_(film)


Just a suggestion if you are so inclined to watch such a film.

[Fredda Weinberg]

1. The situation was more complicated than the movie related

But the point is relevant: the French intelligence agents did the will of the French people. The pied noire were a powerful political force.

[Lex]

3. It was screened by the Pentagon in 2003. Banned by the French in the 60's.

Can you imagine?

The film was re-released in 2004.

The trailer:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ca3M2feqJk8

[Fredda Weinberg]

4. Saw the movie years ago. Read Frantz Fanon decades ago

And yes, it is sadly relevant today.

[wundermaus]

5. Here is the whole movie -

Battle of Algiers (2 hr 2 min - 1966)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4008498016489872474

[Lydia Leftcoast]

2. Highly recommended

A compelling and unnerving film that helps you understand why people become "terrorists." You may be surprised at your own reactions.

[Ellipsis]

6. It's an intense film. Certainly relevant to today,

the parallels to Iraq is a bit surreal.

[pinto]

7. Yeah, it's a good one. I liked the singular point of view approach it took,

while making it's broader statement.

A good piece when seen in relation to France's battle for VietNam, our follow up there, and - as you note - the West's involvement in Mesopotamia.

[nebula]

8. The French acted like Nazis

Mass migration of French colonials to the country complemented a policy of outright genocide of natives.

On the pretext of a slight to their consul, the French invaded Algiers in 1830.<5> In contrast to Morocco and Tunisia, the conquest of Algeria by the French was long and particularly violent and resulted in the disappearance of about a third of the Algerian population.<6> France was responsible for the extermination of 1.5 million Algerians. According to Olivier Le Cour Grandmaison, the French pursued a policy of extermination against the Algerians.

The French conquest of Algeria was slow due to intense resistance from such as Emir Abdelkader, Ahmed Bey and Fatma N'Soumer. Indeed the conquest was not technically complete until the early 1900s when the last Tuareg were conquered.

Meanwhile, however, the French made Algeria an integral part of France, a status that would end only with the collapse of the Fourth Republic in 1958. Tens of thousands of settlers from France, Italy, Spain, and Malta moved in to farm the Algerian coastal plain and occupy significant parts of Algeria's cities. These settlers benefited from the French government's confiscation of communally held land, and the application of modern agriculture techniques that increased the amount of arable land.<7> Algeria's social fabric suffered during the occupation: literacy plummeted,<8> while land confiscation uprooted much of the population....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algeria#French_colonization

[Critters2]

9. Saw it on TCM a couple of months ago.

Very powerful.