Browsing by Author "Sarra BIREM, Cheyma DILMI"

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    Colonial Violence: Horror and Terror in Pontecorvo’s “The Battle of Algiers”
    (2020-06) Sarra BIREM, Cheyma DILMI
    In 1966, Gillo Pontecorvo directed his Italian-Algerian historical war movie “The Battle of Algiers” in which he portrays horror and terror among both the colonised and the coloniser people. The movie unveils the French colonial violence against the Algerians and particularly the FLN in the Casbah between 1954 and 1962. The aim of this research is to study how Pontecorvo’s “The Battle of Algiers” depicts the different use of violence by both the French paratroopers and the Algerian revolutionists. It tries also to discuss ethical and philosophical issues concerning violence and resistance using the movie as a guide and a focal point. From a postcolonial perspective, the movie examines Pontecorvo’s to show the atmosphere of horror and terror; it attempts also to shed light on the position of Algerian women during the revolution based on real historical events. To achieve this aim, the present study uses a postcolonial approach. The research does not sympathize or empathize with any violent acts in the movie, but its main concern is to broaden our understanding of the atmosphere of horror during the battle of Algiers and how violence was imposed on the wretched colonised. In short, the study will clarify how the history of colonialism instigated indeed a vicious circle of violence in the long run and the liberation process is part of it.