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The Battle of Algiers. Bias?

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The Battle of Algiers. Bias?
In 1966, La Battaglia di Algeri (The Battle of Algiers) was released in Venice, Italy. This highly acclaimed film deals with the Algerian independence from France and their modern guerrilla warfare that aided tremendously in their liberation in 1962. The content of the film however goes beyond politics and makes you question the validity of terrorism as a means for freedom. The majority of the film is in shot as a flashback from the perspective of Ali, one of the main leaders of the Algerian National Liberation Front. The question that many are asking is whether or not the film portrayed both sides of the war fairly. The filmmaker, Gillo Pontecorvo starts the film in the climax of the film and then uses flashback as a way to make the experience more personal with the audience by taking them with him through the journey that led up to the circumstances. Once the audience is watching the film through the perspective of Ali, their slowly coaxed into the muslim mentality and thus the idea of guerrilla warfare becomes over romanticized with the idea of freedom. When in fact the loss of any innocent life is a cost beyond repair. As for the French Algerian side, we see an obvious hostility towards Muslim Algerians, this is portrayed after an assassination of a French policeman, a homeless Muslim man is accused of his death by the French Algerians, when in fact he was nowhere near the murder. The film does not show Muslims attack, no matter how many lives were taken, with the same negative connotation it does with the French, but rather with a sense of suspense and dignification. The film is over romanticized and fails to recognize the natural horror of removing innocent lives and thus fails to be bias.

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