Title:
La Bataille d'Alger = The Battle of Algiers
Uniform Title:
Battaglia di Algeri (Motion picture)
ISBN:
9781604654608
Edition:
Director-approved two-disc Blu-ray special ed.
Blu-ray ed.
Criterion collection.
Physical Description:
2 videodiscs (121 min.) : sound, black and white ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 booklet (55 pages : illustrations ; 19 cm).
Series:
General Note:
Originally released as a motion picture in 1966.
Based on: Souvenirs de la Bataille d'Alger / Saadi Yacef.
Accompanying booklet includes an essay by film scholar Peter Matthews; a reprinted interview with writer Franco Solinas; and brief biographies on the key figures in the French-Algerian War.
Special features: Disc 1: "Gillo Pontecorvo : the dictatorship of truth," a documentary narrated by literary critic Edward Said; "Marxist poetry : the making of The battle of Algiers," a documentary featuring interviews with Pontecorvo, Gatti, and composer Ennio Morricone, among others; interview with Spike Lee, Mira Nair, Julian Schnabel, Steven Soderbergh, and Oliver Stone on the film's influence, style, and importance; production gallery; theatrical and rerelease trailers. Disc 2: "Remembering history," a documentary on the Algerian experience of the battle for independence; "États d'armes," a documentary excerpt featuring senior French military officers recalling the use of torture and execution to combat the Algerian rebellion; "The battle of Algiers : a case study," a video piece featuring U.S. counterterrorism experts; "Gillo Pontecorvo's return to Algiers," a documentary in which the filmmaker revisits the country after three decades of independence.
Contents:
Disc 1. The battle of Algiers -- Disc 2. History and the film.
Corporate Subject:
Summary:
Vividly re-creates a key year in the tumultuous Algerian struggle for independence from the occupying French in the 1950s. As violence escalates on both sides, children shoot soldiers at point-blank range, women plant bombs in cafés, and French soldiers resort to torture to break the will of the insurgents. Shot on the streets of Algiers in documentary style.
System Details:
BLU-RAY; REGION A, ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN (1.85.1) ASPECT RATIO, DOLBY DIGITAL 1.0 MONO SOUND (FRENCH WITH ARABIC), DUAL LAYER (50 GB), 1080P.
Language Note:
IN FRENCH AND ARABIC DIALOGUE; WITH OPTIONAL ENGLISH SUBTITLES.
