Film marks sixtieth anniversary
The film The Battle of Algiers, directed by Gillo Pontecorvo, celebrates its sixtieth anniversary. In 1966, the film was presented at the Venice Film Festival, where it won the Golden Lion.Setting and context
Filmed in the heart of the Casbah, only a few years after Algeria's independence, this work, which resembles a documentary, retraces one of the most significant episodes of the war of liberation.Controversial reception in France
In France, where authorities still refer to the events as "the Algerian events," the film is controversial. Despite obtaining an exploitation permit in 1970, its distribution was hindered by pressures, threats, and violence.Resurgence and broadcast
It would not be until 2004 that it experienced a true national resurgence and was broadcast on Arte. From the very first black-and-white images, the viewer knows the tragic outcome of the battle.Plot and characters
October 1957. Ali la Pointe, whose real name is Ali Ammar, and three other independence fighters are encircled by the paratroopers of Colonel Mathieu. Retreating into their hideout, they live their final hours.Flashback and transformation
A flashback then retraces the journey of Ali la Pointe, who moved from delinquency to armed struggle, becoming one of the figures of the National Liberation Front (FLN). Torture, humiliations, attacks, and repression: for two hours, Pontecorvo plunges the viewer into the violence of the colonial war.Role of Algerian women
The director also focuses on the Algerian women, whose involvement evolves throughout the conflict. As couriers, messengers, and then combatants engaged in clandestine operations, they play an active role in the resistance.Symbolism of the hijab
The hijab, a symbol of resistance against the colonial power. Algerian women have participated in the independence struggle since the early years of the war. They carry out liaison missions, transport messages, and distribute leaflets.Initial resistance to women's involvement
Their involvement in clandestine operations initially causes resistance within the nationalist movement, due to the violence to which they might be exposed. In "Year Five of the Algerian Revolution," psychiatrist and FLN militant Frantz Fanon dedicates a chapter to their involvement.Women's role in the film
In the film, a woman intervenes from the first mission assigned to Ali la Pointe, intended to test his loyalty to the FLN. As he is supposed to shoot a policeman, she gives him a weapon before retrieving it and hiding it under her hijab.Colonial views on women
Beyond its cultural dimension, the hijab has political importance under French colonization. The colonial administration sees Algerian women as the core of a society it seeks to transform, notably through the unveiling campaigns.Colonial ideology and resistance
Frantz Fanon reports the words he attributes to colonial thought: "If we want to strike Algerian society in its structure, in its resistance capacities, we must first conquer the women; we must go seek them behind the veil where they hide and in the houses where men hide them."Effect of colonial pressure
However, this desire to submit women to Western norms also produces the opposite effect. Facing colonial offensives, the Algerian woman "has reinforced traditional conduct," observes Fanon.Hijab as a symbol of resistance
Wearing the hijab in public space becomes a way of affirming her belonging to a society that the colonial power seeks to dominate. In the intimacy of homes, however, Algerian women do not systematically cover themselves, as shown in a wedding scene in the film.Adapting for resistance
And when the struggle demands it, the combatants do not hesitate to temporarily abandon their hijabs to avoid surveillance by the French army. Revealing themselves to evade French army controls.Escalation of the conflict
Starting in 1956, the role of women takes on a "truly gigantic dimension," according to the words of Frantz Fanon. In Algiers, the resistance organized by the FLN, notably under the leadership of Yacef Saadi, intensifies.Significant attack in the Casbah
In the night of August 9 to 10, 1956, a bomb placed by activists favorable to French Algeria explodes on the Rue de Thèbes, in the heart of the Casbah. The attack kills many residents, including children, and marks a new stage in the escalation of violence.Colonial response to resistance
Controls are strengthened at the entrances and exits of Algerian quarters. French forces seek to prevent independence fighters from moving and carrying out their operations.Women as key actors
To evade this surveillance, women play a crucial role. One of the most famous scenes in The Battle of Algiers is precisely that of their unveiling.Transformation and mission
Gathered in a room, three young Algerian women abandon their hijabs to wear Western clothing. Seated in front of a mirror, they cut their hair, style it, and apply makeup. Their gestures are meticulous.Camouflage and infiltration
In a few moments, their appearance changes. They now resemble the Europeans who live just a few streets away from them, but they remain separated by the colonial order.Colonial perceptions of change
Frantz Fanon describes this transformation in "Year Five of the Algerian Revolution": "She is radically transformed into an European, full of ease and nonchalance, unsuspecting, submerged in the milieu."Execution of the mission
Dressed in European fashion, the three women pass the controls without raising suspicion. They can now move through the streets of the European quarter, previously difficult to access for clandestine fighters.Colonial oversight and resistance
"The protective cloak of the kasbah, the almost organic security curtain that the Arab city weaves around the native, withdraws, and the Algerian exposed is launched into the city of the conqueror," Fanon recounts.Military response and targets
The paratroopers allow them to pass, sometimes even with a smile. A few moments earlier, these same soldiers closely monitored the movements of the residents of the Casbah.Mission and impact
But behind this appearance of Europeans, the three women have a mission: to place bombs in establishments frequented by European civilians, on the order of the FLN.Historical events in the film
The film reconstructs, in particular, the attacks on the Milk Bar and the Cafétéria, carried out on September 30, 1956, in Algiers, which caused multiple deaths and numerous injuries.Underdeveloped female characters
Decisive combatants, but secondary characters. While The Battle of Algiers shows the involvement of women in the struggle for independence, their characters remain underdeveloped.Focus on actions, not narratives
Pontecorvo films their actions, gestures, and determination, but rarely dwells on their personal journeys, beliefs, or aspirations. In The Battle of Algiers, women transport weapons, cross checkpoints, and risk their lives.Unexplored individual stories
But they speak little. Behind these combatants, however, there are singular stories, such as those of Zohra Drif or Djamila Bouhired, who also deserve to find their place in the narrative of the Algerian liberation.
