The Battle of Algiers

Gillo Pontecorvo & Franco Solinas 1966

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058946/

In the 1950s, fear and violence escalate as the people of Algiers fight for independence from the French government.

The Battle of Algiers


1	VILLA HEADQUARTERS. INSIDE. NIGHT. 

	Inside a three-story villa, just built, with whitewashed walls. 
	An elevator shaft is empty, the large cables dangle. 

	On every landing two apartments. The front doors are wide open.
	Whitewash on the floor of the halls, swirls of whitewash on the 
	windowpanes, naked light bulbs hung from electric wires. The rooms 
	contain hardly any furnishings. 

	The kitchens are still without sinks and stoves.
  
	An agitated bustle, a rhythm of efficiency. Paratroopers go up and 
	down the stairs, pass along the halls, enter and leave the rooms.

	The sounds in the background are indecipherable.

	SHOUTED ORDERS, CRIES, HOWLS. 

	SHOUTS, HALF-SPOKEN REMARKS, LAUGHS.

	SOMEWHERE A GRAMOPHONE IS PLAYING AT FULL BLAST. 

	The scene is tense. No pauses.
 
	When the paras are tired, they move to another room. 

	They sit down, stretch out on the floor, drink coffee or beer, and 
	smoke cigarettes while awaiting the next shift. Suddenly, the rhythm 
	of this routine, the timing of these images is upset. A para rushes 
	down the stairs, and asks cheerfully while running:

				MARC
		The colonel. Where's the colonel? 

				PARAS
		Why? What's happening?

				MARC 
		We know where Ali la Pointe is. One of 
		them "spoke" ...

	His voice echoes through the corridors, on the landings, from one 
	floor to another. The excitement is contagious. Many crowd around 
	the door of the kitche