Post-colonial Cinema and The Case of Algiers

As a theory, postcolonial suggests the study of a precarious space, that is, a space that exists post-colonialism. Thus, in the body of this essay, the term postcolonial will refer to the theory/study of post-colonial nations. Therefore the term post-colonial, as in most academic texts, will always refer to the subject and/or space that the theory is examining. In relation to cinema, the theory offers a specific analysis of the films that have emerged from such a space. It provides an unparalleled reading of films which are born out of the colonial struggle and also shares certain characteristics with third cinema, for instance the preoccupation with underdeveloped or conflicted nations. For example, in the case of The Battle of Algiers, postcolonial theory, or a reading of the film as a struggle against colonialism, reveals a clearer understanding of the director’s narrative choices. For instance, why does Gillo Pontecorvo choose to neglect significant historical moments and instead fixate on the conflict between the FLN and the French police? Thus, it is necessary to examine the theory as it is applied to this type of film, The Battle of Algiers in particular, and also to identify the definitional problems it creates.
The benefit of this theory, specifically within the case of The Battle of Algiers, is that it investigates both the period after independence has been achieved and also, perhaps more importantly, it investigates the period of struggle and resistance between the coloniser and colonised before independence is won. ‘Postcolonial theory is not a single theory.’1 It is this struggle, the means and not the end result that interested Pontecorvo and scriptwriter Franco Solinas in the case of Algeria. ‘I was intrigued by the mechanism of the struggle against colonialism and, in particular, by its manifestation in Algeria through tactics of urban guerrilla warfare.’2 Solinas suggests then, that the film, at least in his vision, was about exposing the conflict that colonialism had fuelled rather than celebrating Algeria’s independence or totally identifying with the Algerian people-as it might do, had it embraced the typical third cinema objectives. When postcolonial theory is applied to this type of film, it dissects the mise en scene and makes us more aware that the portrayal of violence, torture, disguise and war tactics in the film is significant and part of the struggle against colonialism.
As a psychiatrist, Frantz Fanon, who is considered the first major writer on the theory, argued that violence was an important part of the struggle, suggesting that the act of violence ‘frees the native from his inferiority complex.’3 The influence of Frantz Fanon on The Battle of Algiers also contributes to the appropriateness of examining postcolonial theory as it is applied to the film. As Susan Hayward notes, Fanon’s texts of the 1950s and 1960s form ‘the foundation of this theory.’4 His influence is evident in the behaviour of the characters, to clarify, while working in Algeria, Fanon studied the ‘effects of colonialism on the psyche of the colonized,’5 and the behaviour of the characters can be seen to correspond with his psychological theories. As Mike Wayne discusses, petty criminal Ali La Pointe, in choosing fight over flight, is able to restore his self respect and subsequently join the war against French rule. The colonel Mathieu, when considered in terms of postcolonial theory, can be seen as representing the rationality behind French colonial tactics. For example, the decision of the French Army to use torture is somehow justified by the sophisticated, civilised character and his rationalisation of the tactic. In this sense, the film refuses to demonise the coloniser and in doing so allows the tone to remain ambivalent. As Solinas argues, there is little use in viewing the French coloniser as the villain simply because he uses torture, he states, ‘The Algerian situation was rotten long before torture became an issue.’6 Moreover to side with the Algerians is to lose sight of the films objective, that is, to portray the conflict and the dynamics of the relationship between both parties. The ambivalent nature of the film also arguably mimics the questions of identity that post-colonial society creates.
In simple terms, postcolonial theory explores the idea or questions of national identity and culture in the post-colonial space. Identity becomes a question for the post-colonial subject, because, as described by Hayward, the subject is by its very nature hybrid. She argues that because the post-colonial subject occupies an ‘in-between’ space, of two distinct cultures, that it is therefore ‘one of contradictions and ambivalences.’7 Furthermore, as discussed by Wayne, culture, along with economic resources, is one of colonialism’s main objects of control. Therefore, post-colonialism is plagued by the search for a new hybrid identity, which is neither rooted in the pre-colonialism culture or the identity/culture of the coloniser. It is argued by Pam Cook that postcolonial theory deals effectively with such cultural contradictions. The divide of the colonial space between the two distinct inhabitants is represented quite literally in the portrayal of the city in The Battle of Algiers, where the European district and the Algerian Casbah are completely set apart by borders and by environment- metropolitan versus poverty.
Although this theory is useful in understanding the focus which Pontecorvo places on the conflict between the FLN and the French military, it is not without it problems. For example, Hayward considers that there is a danger in the application of postcolonial theory, in that, it tends to be or tends to be interpreted to be, what she describes as, a ‘totalizing theory.’ ‘A new kind of totalizing theory that places all post-colonial nations and their cultures on a par?’8 Hayward’s problem then, is that the theory may be used to examine each post-colonial subject as though they were not the product of diverse historical and political situations. She goes on to argue that we must be aware not to place Eurocentric eyes onto the concept of postcolonial theory, a point of view which would assume that ‘history is the west.’9 Hayward is not alone in her concerns with the theory, Wayne also accuses the theory of having little practical application. However, this can not be true in the case of The Battle of Algiers, since the theory has a practical use in analysing the historical Battle and how it is demonstrated by the film.
To begin with, the theory helps to understand the representation of women. The liberation of women is a key point of reference both within the post-colonial space and the postcolonial theory as applied to The Battle of Algiers. It has been argued that in nations were women are oppressed or seen to be oppressed depending on your definition, that colonialism leads to a ‘double colonization or oppression.’9 For example, in the case of Algeria it is noted that the ‘veiled woman’ became a symbolic rejection and/or protest against French rule. Therefore the FLN and extreme conservative groups in Algeria encouraged or enforced the wearing of the veil. Hubertine Auclert, founder of France’s first suffragist newspaper, viewed the veil as a representation of the ‘forced submission of Muslim women. French influence within the nation, on the contrary to encouraging the liberation of these women, only served to increase the extent to which they were oppressed. The French government had attempted to use their so called liberating of Muslim women as a scapegoat for their presence in Algeria. To clarify, as Todd Shepard discusses, by focussing on the veiled women the government were able to avoid ‘responding to the FLN or engaging a debate on the question of colonialism. However, Auclert noted that, the French official’s obscure way of liberating women was to refuse to establish schools for Muslim girls, arguing that it would create ‘a group of educated Muslim women neither European nor Muslim societies would accept.’10
The veiling and unveiling of Muslim women within The Battle of Algiers is rooted in this idea of colonialism. At the beginning of the film, or the first manifestations of the FLN tactics in the film, the veiled women represent a protest against French rule and at a practical level they are able to carry weapons and assist in the battle while remaining anonymous. The unveiling of the women is equally symbolic. For instance, after the French military have become aware that the FLN are using the veiled women, the Algerian’s change tactics and instead let the women unveil themselves and masquerade as Europeans. This way they are able to move around freely and occupy the metropolitan space. In this sense, as discussed by Wayne, the European disguise allows the colonised to use the coloniser’s racism to their own advantage. The unveiling of the women represents their transition from passive to active and we see within the film that with this transition the women almost become equal to the men. When Ali la Pointe is jailed, for example, he finds a commonality with the women as he watches through the physical constraint of the bars. The bars mirror the way in which the Muslim women look out from their veils. In creating a parallel between the prison bars and the veil, the film further highlights the extent to which the veil is a means of oppression. Postcolonial theory raises a question in regards to the women’s transition, will the changes that were influenced by the struggle that made them more active, be continued once independence has been won and Algerian rule is implemented?
Thus, although postcolonial theory helps us to understand the driving forces of war and why colonialism results, at least within the case of Algeria, in violent conflict, it does seem to raise more questions than it answers. For example, the question of identity, culture and to a certain extent, the future. As the post-colonial space is so uncertain, it tends to raise the question of the future. For example, how does a nation find its feet again, post-colonialism? Postcolonial theory offers a particular analysis of nations that have experienced colonial struggle; it focuses on the conflict and the psyche of the colonised and the coloniser. Therefore it is an important alternative to looking at these nations, and their films, from a third cinema perspective. In that, it does not become preoccupied with ideology and favouring identification with the colonialised.
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1 Hayward, Susan ‘Cinema Studies, The Key Concepts’ (Routledge: Oxon) 2000, p. 271

2 Solinas, Franco ‘An Interview with Franco Solinas,’ in ‘The Battle of Algiers’ edited by Solinas, PierNico: 1973, p. 30

3 Fanon, Frantz ‘Political Film, The Dialectics of Third Cinema’ (Pluto Press: London) 2001, p. 19

4 Hayward, Susan ‘Cinema Studies, The Key Concepts’ (Routledge: Oxon) 2000, p. 268

5 Hayward, Susan ‘Cinema Studies, The Key Concepts’ (Routledge: Oxon) 2000, p. 268

6 Solinas, Franco ‘An Interview with Franco Solinas,’ in ‘The Battle of Algiers’ edited by Solinas, PierNico:1973, p. 32

7 Hayward, Susan ‘Cinema Studies, The Key Concepts’ (Routledge: Oxon) 2000, p. 271

8 Hayward, Susan ‘Cinema Studies, The Key Concepts’ (Routledge: Oxon) 2000, p. 269

9 Hayward, Susan ‘Cinema Studies, The Key Concepts’ (Routledge: Oxon) 2000, p. 273
10 Shepard, Todd ‘The Invention of Decolonization, The Algerian War and The Remaking of France’ (Cornell University Press: New York) 2006

Bibliography

Hayward, Susan ‘Cinema Studies, The key Concepts’ (Routledge: Oxon) 2000

Wayne, Mike ‘Political Film, The Dialectics of Third Cinema’ (Pluto Press: London) 2001

Todd, Shepard ‘The Invention of Decolonization, The Algerian War and The Remaking of France’ (Cornell University Press: New York) 2006

Cook, Pam, Bernink, Mieke ‘Postcolonial Cinema,’ in ‘The Cinema Book’ 2nd Edition (BFI: London) 1999

Filmography

The Battle of Algiers, Algeria, 1966, d: Pontecorvo, Gillo.