The Battle of Algiers

If you like films, you should think seriously about going to the IFI in the near future, as they are showing The Battle of Algiers from Friday. This is a classic of political cinema, dealing with the struggle between the French and Algerian nationalists in Algiers in the 1950s. The film is wholly on the side of the rebels, but is unflinching in its portrayal of their atrocities, even while viewing them as essentially justified. It also is striking that one of the film's main characters is the hardnut French colonel who arrives in Algiers determined to break the nationalists by any means necessary. A lot of people talk about how there are obvious parallels between the film's events and curent occurences in Iraq and Palestine, but it is maybe best not to labour such points and watch it as a thrilling example of anti-colonial cinema.

It has a score by Ennio Morricone.