The Battle of Algiers - encoding conflict

Unless it is a very bad film, ideological perspectives do not simply 'happen'. It is rare a commentator will appear on screen and explain exactly what the ideological perspective of the director is (unless it's a Hitchcock film...). However, expertly applied film language can encode an ideological perspective in a clear and insightful manner.

In this session, you will be analyzing a key scene from Battle of Algiers.

1 - Task one: watch 'the bombing of the Casbah and the aftermath' 

You can find the film by clicking here. Watch from 37m 42s to 42m 55s

2 - Analysis 

Just as a reminder, the five micro elements, or elements of film language are

• Sound, including diegesis
• Editing, including pace
• Mise en scene
• Performance, including proxemics, address etc.
• Cinematography, including lighting, blocking, framing, shot types, camera angles

In the hands of a skilled director, they combine to create meaning

Using these elements of film language, analyze the following screenshots from the sequence outlined.  If you get stuck, the following questions will help you:

• How does framing align the audience to the values of the director? 
• How is a sense of conflict constructed through MES and editing?
• How is a heroic ideological perspective encoded through cinematography?
• How does the MES make the film resemble a newsreel? And what ideological perspective does this heighten?
• How does the stark binary between light and dark constructed through lighting present an ideological perspective?
• How is the spectator positioned through the combination of editing and sound?
• How does the naturalistic performance of the Algerian actors heighten spectatorial emotional involvement?