La bataille d'Alger : The battle of Algiers /
Focuses on the harrowing events of 1957, a key year in Algeria's struggle for independence from France. Recreates the tumultuous Algerian uprising against the occupying French in the 1950s. As violence escalates on both sides, the French torture prisoners for information and the Algerians resor...
| Corporate Authors: | , , |
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| Other Authors: | , , , , , |
| Format: | Video DVD |
| Language: | French Arabic |
| Language Notes: | In French and Arabic with new and improved English subtitles. |
| Published: |
Irvington, NY :
Criterion Collection,
[2004]
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| Edition: | Director-approved special ed. 3-disc set. |
| Series: | Criterion collection (DVD videodiscs) ;
249. Classic collection (Chicago, Ill. : DVD videodiscs) |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Connect to reviews of this title online |
| Summary: | Focuses on the harrowing events of 1957, a key year in Algeria's struggle for independence from France. Recreates the tumultuous Algerian uprising against the occupying French in the 1950s. As violence escalates on both sides, the French torture prisoners for information and the Algerians resort to terrorism in their quest for independence. Children shoot soldiers at point-blank range, women plant bombs in cafés. The French win the battle, but ultimately lose the war as the Algerian people demonstrate that they will no longer be suppressed. |
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| Item Description: | Originally released as motion picture in 1966. A foreign film (Algeria). New high-definition digital transfer. Aspect ratio 1.85:1; enhanced for widescreen TVs. Special features: disc 1. Production gallery ; Theatrical and re-release trailers -- disc 2. Gillo Pontecorvo : the dictatorship of truth: a 37 min. documentary, narrated by literary critic Edward Said ; Exclusive 51-minute documentary on the making of The battle of Algiers, featuring new interviews with the director, cinematographer, composer, editor, actors, and film historians ; Five directors (17 min., 2004): Spike Lee, Mira Nair, Julian Schnabel, Steven Soderbergh, and Oliver Stone on the film's influence, style, and importance -- disc 3. Remembering history (69 min., 2004): an exclusive documentary that reconstructs the Algerian experience of the battle for independence, featuring interviews with historians and revolutionaries, including military leader Saadi Yacef ; "États d'armes" (2002): a 28-minute documentary excerpt featuring senior French military officers recalling the use of torture and execution to combat the rebellion ; The battle of Algiers : a case study (25 mins., 2004): Richard A. Clarke, former national counterterrorism coordinator and author of Against all enemies : inside America's war on terror, discusses the film's relevance with Michael A. Sheehan, former State Department coordinator for counterterrorism, in a conversation moderated by Christopher E. Isham, chief of investigative projects for ABC News ; Gillo Pontecorvo's return to Algiers (58 mins., 1992): the filmmaker revisits the Algerian people after three decades of independence. Accompanying book features excerpts from Saadi Yacef's original account of his arrest, a reprinted excerpt from the film's screenplay, a reprinted interview with co-writer Franco Solinas, a new essay by film scholar Peter Matthews, and biographical sketches on key figures in the French-Algerian War Accompanying book includes bibliographical references (page 53). Videorecording. |
| Physical Description: | 3 DVDs-video (approximately 121 min.) : sound, black and white and color ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 booklet (55 pages : illustrations ; 19 cm.) |
| Format: | DVD; Dolby digital, mono. |
| Audience: | Not rated. |
| Production Credits: | Director of photography, Marcello Gatti ; editors, Mario Serandrei & Mario Morra ; music, Ennio Morricone & Gillo Pontecorvo ; production designer, Sergio Canevari. |
| ISBN: | 0780028872 |