Monthly Archives: April 2019

The Battle of Algiers (1966)

Posted on April 8, 2019 | 7 comments

The Battle of Algiers (La battaglia di Algeri)
Directed by Gillo Pontecorvo
Written by Franco Salinas and Gillo Pontecorvo
1966/Italy/Algiers
Casbah Film/Igor Film
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Journalist: M. Ben M’Hidi, don’t you think it’s a bit cowardly to use women’s baskets and handbags to carry explosive devices that kill so many innocent people?

Ben M’Hidi: And doesn’t it seem to you even more cowardly to drop napalm bombs on defenseless villages, so that there are a thousand times more innocent victims? Of course, if we had your airplanes it would be a lot easier for us. Give us your bombers, and you can have our baskets.[/box]

This amazing documentary-style re-enactment of terrorism and retaliation in Algeria’s struggle for independence is hard to take but more relevant than ever.

The story begins with the radicalization of Ali, an illiterate teenager living in the Casbah of Algiers.  He is readily accepted into one of many terrorist cells in the city.  We witness many brutal attacks, including a major strike in which the Air France office and two cafes frequented by French people are targeted.  The retaliation is equally brutal.

The French call in the army and Col. Mathieu sets about to destroy the Casbah.  We are told terrorism was wiped out in Algiers and the war moved to the mountains.  In the end, independence is won, not by terrorism, but by a shift in French opinion and a mass uprising of the people.

I just watched in awe as I contemplated the gigantic task Pontecorvo set for himself. There are crowd scenes with hundreds of extras that look exactly like newsreel footage. The chaos of the upheaval is vividly captured.  It’s a masterpiece but not anything I will pull out on a regular basis.

In 2003, the Pentagon famously screened this film for officers and civilian experts who were discussing the challenges faced by the US military forces in Iraq. The flier inviting guests to the screening read: “How to win a battle against terrorism and lose the war of ideas”.  Folks didn’t seem to learn much.

The Battle of Algiers was nominated for Academy Awards in the categories of Best Foreign Language Film, Best Director, and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay – Written directly for the screen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i9V1rlY-PQ

 

7 Comments

Posted in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, 1966

Grand Prix (1966)

Posted on April 4, 2019 | 2 comments

Grand Prix
Directed by John Frankenheimer
Written by Robert Alan Arthur
1966/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/John Frankenheimer Productions/etc.
First viewing/Netflix rental

 

Pete Aron: [voiceover continues] The only thing to do here is to drive just as fast as you know how, and hope your car doesn’t break.

If not for the splendid racing scenes, this would just be another waste of some good actors on 3 hours of typical mid-sixties melodrama.

The film begins with several voice-overs that introduce the characters and explain Formula 1 racing to the uninitiated.  It then settles on the story of American driver Pete Aron (James Garner) who is accused of causing a British challenger to spin out and become seriously injured.  He is fired from his team.   Aron becomes a sports journalist but is soon picked up by Izo Yamura (Toshiro Mifune) and drives for him.

Saul Bass title sequence

Pete takes up with the injured driver’s estranged wife (Jessica Walters), setting up a love triangle.  Another kind of love triangle is the romance between married super-star driver Jean-Pierre Sarti (Yves Montand) and an American fashion designer (Eva Marie Saint).

It says something about this movie that my husband, a huge Formula 1 fan, had no desire to see this again.  Some of the driving shots are absolutely spectacular and the film ends with an unbelievable crash sequence.  I just wish they hadn’t hung such a dopey story to it.

Grand Prix won Academy Awards in the categories of Best Sound, Best Film Editing, and Best Effects, Sound Effects .

 

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Posted in 1966

Hunger (1966)

Posted on April 1, 2019 | 2 comments

Hunger (Sult)
Directed by Henning Carlsen
Written by Henning Carlsen and Peter Seeberg from a novel by Knut Hamson
1966/Denmark/Sweden/Norway
Sandrews/Studio ABC/Svenska Film Institutet
First viewing/Amazon Instant

[box] Pontus: All is lost, ladies and gentlemen! All is lost![/box]

 

I have to be in the right mood to watch a man slowly starve to death while gradually losing his mind.  I was not but I have to admit that this is a high quality movie.

The year is 1890 and the setting is Christiana (now Oslo, Norway).  Pontus (Per Oscarsson) is a talented but struggling young writer. He is unemployed and hungry. Numerous efforts to find work are fruitless.  He loses his living quarters.  He wanders the city carrying his only possessions – the suit of clothes he has on, his glasses, and his bedding.  The pawnshop owner will not lend money on any of it.

Despite his desperate state, Pontus begins a mild flirtation with a young woman (Gunnel Lindblom) who responds in kind.  An editor says he will pay for a story if Pontus can make some minor edits.  Is it too late for our hero to find some meat in his misery sandwich?

This film has a lot in common with Vittorio De Sica’s Umberto D. in that the protagonist is not exactly sympathetic.  Pontus is so proud that he refuses all offers of help and basically seals his own fate.  This keeps the story from falling into easy sentimentality.  So does Oscarsson’s performance.  He manages to be pathetic, endearing, and infuriating all at the same time.  The camerawork is splendid.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0jnZDsHjUw

2 Comments

Posted in 1966