Battle of Algiers, Movie Review Example

Women play important roles in The Battle of Algiers. Discuss how their roles in the film compare with women’s participation in other struggles of national liberation.

There are many scenes in the film where women play critical roles in the assassinations of police officers. In one scene, there are a couple of French police officers checking all of the men and boys for weapons, and looking through their papers to identify whether or not they are in the right location. When a woman fully clothed and covered in a hijab tries to pass through a walkway, a police officer stops her and tries to check her for weapons, she shouts, “don’t touch me, don’t touch me.” The officers adopt the policy to never touch “their women,” and this enables the FLN to get weapons across checkpoints, which is pivotal.

There is another scene where a group of women cut their hair and dye it to appear more European. They are then instructed by the FLN to orchestrate a bombing in retaliation for a bombing done near their homes by the French police.  When one woman is unable to minimize her Muslim appearance, she instead attempts to bring her young son along to appear less threatening. All of the women are successful at making it through military checkpoints, to place bombs in public locations. The two women who change their physical appearance are even flirted with by troops. They go virtually unnoticed as a potential threat by all onlookers.

In my opinion the role played by the women in this movement can be compared to recent civil protests in the Middle East in opposition to Sharia laws refuting the right for women to drive where men dressed up like women and drove cars while women also drove, making it difficult for police to ascertain who to arrest. It also reminds me however, the recruitment of children by terrorist groups like ISIS to do killings, as it relates to the manipulation of perceived innocence to undermine governance efforts.