The Pentagon screening: more details
Michael Kaufman in the NYTimes September 7, 2003 wrote:
Quote:
[Compared to the young "radicalized" US anti-Vietnam War viewers who first watched and rewatched the film in the Sixties, siding with the insurgents,] . . .The Pentagon's showing drew a more professionally detached audience of about 40 officers and civilian experts who were urged to consider and discuss the implicit issues at the core of the film — the problematic but alluring efficacy of brutal and repressive means in fighting clandestine terrorists in places like Algeria and Iraq. Or more specifically, the advantages and costs of resorting to torture and intimidation in seeking vital human intelligence about enemy plans.
As the flier inviting guests to the Pentagon screening declared: "How to win a battle against terrorism and lose the war of ideas. Children shoot soldiers at point-blank range. Women plant bombs in cafes. Soon the entire Arab population builds to a mad fervor. Sound familiar? The French have a plan. It succeeds tactically, but fails strategically. To understand why, come to a rare showing of this film."
The idea came from the Directorate for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict, which a Defense Department official described as a civilian-led group with "responsibility for thinking aggressively and creatively" on issues of guerrilla war. The official said, "Showing the film offers historical insight into the conduct of French operations in Algeria, and was intended to prompt informative discussion of the challenges faced by the French." He added that the discussion was lively and that more showings would probably be held.
No details of the discussion were provided but if the talk was confined to the action of the film it would have focused only on the battle for the city, which ended in 1957 in apparent triumph for the French with the killing of La Pointe and the destruction of the network. But insurrection continued throughout Algeria, and though the French won the Battle of Algiers, they lost the war for Algeria, ultimately withdrawing from a newly independent country ruled by the F.L.N. in 1962. . .
If indeed the government is currently analyzing or even weighing the tactical choices reflected in "The Battle of Algiers," presumably that is being done at a higher level of secrecy than an open discussion following a screening of the Pontecorvo film. Still, by showing the movie within the Pentagon and by announcing that publicly, somebody seems to be raising issues that have remained obscure throughout the war against terror.
The full text of Michael Kaufman's NYT article can be found at http://www.glo.org/modules.php?op=mo...ticle&sid=1101
Battle of Algiers release
All I could find is this: January 9, THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS (re-issue) (Rialto) (NY - Film Forum, LA - Laemmle Westside Pavilion, Laemmle Sunset Plaza 5, Laemmle Playhouse 7, Chicago - Music Box, DC - Landmark E Street Theater, Landmark Bethesda Row). No word of release here yet (SF Bay Area) but I think it is coming wider for sure.
Oscar seems to know better how to find this info.
Re-seeing The Battle of Algiers. Not a mockumentary
I saw the movie at the Castro Theater (one of the Bay Area's best old movie houses) Sunday. To say it "holds up" is an understatement. It's visually splendid and the music by Morricone and Pontecorvo is unique. I posted a review on my website: http://www.chrisknipp.com/writing/viewtopic.php?t=260. There I also appended the shrewd, informative article by Stewart Klawans from the NYTimes archive, plus Michael Kaufman's piece on the Pentagon's interest which I excerpted earlier, I believe, and which is available on the Common Dreams website.
As Oscar pointed out, the full distribution schedule is to be found on http://www.rialtopictures.com/battle.html It's been added to since earlier entries in this thread. I wonder if it will get wider distribution in view of the great interest. Oscar predicts a DVD release this year, but if you're hungry to see it at home, it's already available on VHS. Note: the IMDb listing under "Battaglia di Algeri, La" has some reviews, but the Film Forum website may have more and better article links. See: http://www.filmforum.com/films/algiers.html
I am not sure I would call this a mock documentary and I prefer to place it in the Italian neorealist tradition. Not that it doesn't seem "real" and refer to "real" events, but there are limits to where documentaries can go which Battle of Algiers surpasses. This is simply great filmmaking, and a case where everything clicked.
*These last two links will expire in time.