Battle of Algeria Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Battle of Algeria - Essay Example Instead, it brings out the working practices of institutional structures, the aesthetic strategies associated with that as well as related cultural politics. One good example of Third Cinema is The Battle of Algiers, which is a departure from the characteristic Hollywood style of drama. In its creation of a false sense of documentary, it makes use of simple tools. It has a background of the reporting styles of the 1960s. The production employs such tools as a flashback narrative structure, grainy black and white stock, handheld camera, zoom lens as well as long lenses. The film achieved both commercial success as well as an aesthetic success. Its success at the Venice Film Festival surprised many. It received a lot of praises especially in Europe and the United States. The climax of the success, it enjoyed globally was the eleven cinema awards it won between 1966 and 1967. During that time, it also got three Oscar nominations. The Battle of Algiers was a 1965 production of Italian director Gillo Pontecorvo with cooperation from the revolutionary government of Algeria. The film goes against conventional Hollywood procedures. Shooting in a studio with the use of popular professional actors was not a consideration. Instead, it uses a real life set up with only one actor. That led to its classification as a quasi-documentary. The choice of scenes for the film serves Pontecorvo’s objective. His aim is to give it a realistic touch. The film captures Casbah, a traditionally Muslim part of Algiers, as the scenes are in its marketplaces and narrow streets. Jean Martin, the only professional actor, plays the role of Colonel Mathieu. The fact that the producer was Italian may have led to the film’s similarities to Italian Neo-realism. Pontecorvo elects to use simple equipment so as to create a visual effect similar to that of a documentary. The