Should Battle of Algiers (Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966) be categorised as ‘art cinema’ or 'third cinema'?

The 1966 revolutionary film The Battle of Algiers co-written and directed by the Italian filmmaker Gillo Pontecorvo depicts the story of the Algerian War (1954-1962) where national liberation is undertaken by Algerian rebels against the French government. This cinematic examination offers a portrayal of the anti-colonial struggles of the National Liberation Front (FLN) for the independence of Algerian people. The highly dramatic film shows the escalating terrorism and violence of both the French and the Algerian, such as torture “in an extremely painful way” (Hofler, 2019). There is some debate as to whether the film The Battle of Algiers fits better into the category of ‘art cinema’ or into the category of ‘third cinema’. The purpose of this essay is to explore these two categories and to determine which category the film The Battle of Algiers fits better into.

A term introduced by the Argentine film-makers Fernando Solanas and Octavio Getino in 1969: ‘Third Cinema’, is an aesthetic and political film movement that is a form of a revolutionary struggle. The concept of Third Cinema describes films that draw inspiration to the struggles and desperation of people living in third-world countries (Marzano, 2009). These films aim to be a socially realistic portrayal of life, emphasise topics and issues such as poverty, national and personal identity, tyranny and revolution, colonialism, class, and cultural practices (LeBlanc, 2022). Third Cinema is about real life events and subtle stories, as exemplified in The Battle of Algiers. Pontecorvo adds to the sympathetic portrayal of the individuals, as he focuses on Ali la Pointe’s riveting features. The portrayal of Ali when he refuses to blink as a fellow detainee is guillotined provide insight into real-life phenomena. This makes The Battle of Algiers a perfect example of Third Cinema, where it humanises terrorists and has no aspect of sugar-coating when illustrating violence. This understanding of Third Cinema conveys the complexities of terrorism in real world. (Cantey, 2018).

In the film, the differences between the Algerian population and French settlers are clear, and the structure of power is questioned. The figures Ali la Pointe (the revolutionary) and Lieutenant Colonel Philippe Mathieu (soldier) represents the two opposing cultures, with the barriers and devisions between them. Third Cinema aims for the liberation of the oppressed Third World people. The movie begins with a media res, where the first scene is a drawing introduction to the French rule and the brutalities that no audience is permitted to ignore. The film captures 'the fed up’ state of Ali La Pointe trapped in a prison and being humiliated by a guffawing young Frenchmen – as a powerful metaphor for a clear insight of the probable. This represents the emotional register that underlaid the cause of national liberation (Katz, 2010). With a dissolving transition, the film shows the oppositional relationship between the Europeans and their ‘other’ to emphasise the separation of these two spaces/peoples (Holtmeier, 2016). Overall, it may be said that The Battle of Algiers touches on the major areas of the category of Third Cinema since it illustrates how powerful developed countries impose their power on people from less developed nations (Ekotto & Koh, 2009).

Although many people categorise The Battle of Algiers as a Third Cinema, others debate their arguments on the film being an ‘Art Cinema’. One of the first attempts to outline Art Cinema’s textual characteristics was by David Bordwell in a 1979 article entitled "The Art Cinema as a Mode of Film Practice". Film scholar Bordwell states that “The art cinema defines itself as realistic cinema. It will show us real locations and real problems.” The Battle of Algiers, on the other hand, is influenced by Italian neorealism. The tradition of neorealist cinema aims to show a ‘slice of life’, social reality, in particular the condition of ordinary people: the working classes (Bigley, 2017). The film critic Harold Clurman concurred calls the film “a masterpiece of epic realism” in The Nation. “Watching at the very least a spectacular newsreel, if not indeed history itself in the making.” (Simon, 1971) Pontecorvo creates this sense of historical authenticity with its documentary nature. The film uses techniques adds to its verisimilitude sense with the style of newsreel: such as the black and white shootings, Gatti’s hand-held camera, documentary-type editing, on location shooting in the narrow streets of Casbah and casting of non-professional actors (except for Jean Martin as Mathieu) who are revolutionaries that has survived a real-life war.

Besides being a realistic cinema, Art Cinema is defined as aesthetically oriented European art films which rejects hollywoods conventions but focuses on the auteur director (Bordwell, 1979). In his review of The Battle of Algiers, John Flynn criticises Pontecorvo for being too much of an European auteur to fit into a Third Cinema film (2020). The key creative positions in the production of the were occupied by Italians (Wayne, 2001). So, many define the film as a ‘European film about the Third World’. In his book Political Film, Mike Wayne opposes to this definition and argues that “If the film were more authentically Algerian, it would not automatically qualify as Third Cinema”. In this understanding, no film should be categorised based on its geography, since it doesn’t give us enough indication of the cultural influences on the film.

In conclusion, the political film The Battle of Algiers qualifies as a Third Cinema, whereas it touches on the major areas of the category by dealing with the depictions of logical paths to violence (Cantey, 2018). When compared, Art Cinema fails to fully explore the lived experience and falls short of the lucid social analysis achieved by the Third Cinema (Wayne, 2001). The documentary type film portrays competing ideas about power and politics as close to reality, and the fear and violence escalating as the people of Algiers fight in a campaign to independence. Overall, the Italian filmmaker Gillo Pontecorvo depicts the battle’s brutality, and the profound injustices of the colonial system by presenting both sides in the Algerian conflict.

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Filmography:

• Pontecorvo, G. (1966). The Battle of Algiers. Rizzoli.