Since its release in 1966, The Battle of Algiers by Gillo Pontecorvo has divided critical opinion. The film, which tells the story of Algeria's struggle for independence, won the Golden Lion at the 1966 Venice Film Festival and the following year was nominated for an Oscar as best foreign film. Despite this success, the inherently controversial film was banned in France until 1971 due to its graphic depiction of torture and repression during the war. Heavily influenced by the distinctive cinematic style of neorealism, the politically engaged director sought to make a film that was produced and shot within a "dictatorship of truth". This neorealist aesthetic (handheld camera, non-professional actors) made for such a remarkably accurate reflection of social reality that the film's original American distributor included the disclaimer: "Not a foot of newsreel or documentary film was used." . these cinematic techniques employed by Pontecorvo in a short sequence and examine their effects on our understanding of the issues and themes raised in the film. The chosen sequence comes moments after an old Algerian nationalist revealed the whereabouts of the latest FLN member Ali La Pointe. The French army, determined to suppress the Independent Movement, stormed the Casbah and finally located "la tête du ténia" behind a tiled wall. This sequence therefore actually begins at the end of the story in the year 1957, the complex temporal structure is evident if you regress to the year 1954, here the film traces the transformation of Ali La Pointe from petty criminal to nationalist martyr. Film of contrasts /La simplicity of France against Algeria In the opening shot, the FLN and the French...... in the center of the card...... of the French neighborhoods and the poverty of the Casbah in the previous sequence, between the young Europeans and Ali La Pointe, visually justifies Ali's rebellion. When the police arrive, Ali flees until; he is tripped by a young Frenchman who in turn receives a brutal punch from Ali. France-Algeria represented by the protagonists Ali La Pointe and Colonial Mathieu. A voiceover lists Ali's past as a petty criminal and past as a boxer, thief and pimp. . The image that accompanies the narration is a close-up shot of Ali under arrest, walking with the police officer. The music is Arabic. The scene is then accompanied by the arrival of Mathieu who parades in front of some Frenchmen while the narrator intones a description of Mathieu's exploits. Due to Italian-Algerian co-production, it can be argued that Pontecorvo anoints the FLN with victim status.