Battle of Algiers

Battle of Algiers (1966)
IMDB #210 [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058946/]

The Gist:
French Occupation of Algeria is fairly uneventful. They exploit the people of Algeria in subtle ways, sure, but are mostly benevolent rulers. That's until a well organized terrorist rebellion against French rule provokes dirty things like torture and setting off bombs that kill small children and so on. Of course its nothing that the terrorists don't answer in kind, and technically they started it right? Killing officers in the street, bombing public places, so on. So who are you supposed to root for? No one, of course. No matter that the film was made by a supporter of Algerian revolution and that the story focuses more on that side of the narrative. For that reason alone, the small tendencies toward picking a side instead remaining completely neutral, the film becomes weakened. This is a shame because it really is incredible filmmaking for the most part, it moves with fluidity and grace and its off beat structure keeps the audience engaged. However, I couldn't help being plauged by the idea that I'm following one side of the struggle more than the other, I'm subtly being nudged to one side over the other. This would have been fine except the film doesn't provide enough background to make me empathize with their plight. I do not see the cruel French rule firsthand that would lessen the shock of some chick killing cute kids licking their ice cream cones with handbag full of explosives. I feel sorry for the French policeman that waves the kid off before the kid comes back and guns him down from behind. I, of course, also feel bad when in retribution policemen set a bomb outside a building in the Cazbah (or however you spell that) and they pull a child out of the rubble. Violence turns everything into unintelligible ugliness, good men become monstrous beasts, and whatever noble intentions there were to begin with are lost. Perhaps this is the film's point, in fact I assume it is. If so it is a point that is obscured and contradicted by small lapses of neutrality.