Culturish's Top 50 Foreign Films

[Brad]

1. The Battle of Algiers (La Battaglia di Algeri) 
Directed by Gillo Pontecorvo (1966) 

If you think of modern day agitprop (agitation-propaganda), you think of Michael Moore wrestling with serious topics and his own massive ego. Or maybe Fox News “some people say” method of news. Or perhaps the humour of Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart. Or perhaps the solemn platitudes that remind us we shouldn't be in Iraq/we should do more about The Sudan/what the hell is going on if Afghanistan anyway? Whatever you think of, it's likely to be several degrees removed from Giles Pontecorvo's masterpiece, The Battle of Algiers. It's a film that can be seen as a justification of terrorism (though it calls it revolution), it's as close to a documentary that drama films strive for. It's realism is brutal and upsetting. The film has the feel of a newsreal (so much so that Pontecorvo opens with the statement to the effect that everything for the film was created, not taken directly from newsreals) with a palpable sense of panic as another explosion stuns the frame. The sense of urgency in this film is undeniable. Pontecorvo's greatest weapon, however, is his refusal to trivialize. He acknowledges that torture may have it's uses (the French side use it to get information about the FLN insurgents). He doesn't pretend that either side is blameless in the loss of innocent life (though he's accurate about how much. When on reporter asks if it's immoral to use a women's basket to contain a bomb, the guerilla says “give us your planes, we'll give you our baskets“). A template for more masterpieces to come (Bloody Sunday being the most obvious of recent cases), it's the greatest political film ever made. 

- Culturegeek