Not soon after the war in Iraq began, I decided to watch "The Battle of Algiers" once again. It seems that the military brass also decided to watch it in order to get some tips on how to put down an insurgency, including the art of torture that the French excelled in. Lately the American president has been reading the new paperback edition of Alistair Horne's "A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954-1962?, with an eye toward the same goal as the military brass in watching "The Battle of Algiers".
I wonder how many of them have also seen Marcel Ophuls's "The Sorrow and the Pity," a 1969 documentary on the Nazi occupation of France. I can strongly recommend this epic film to those who want to better understand the effects of an occupation but unlike Portecorvo's masterpiece, it is decidedly pessimistic about resistance. full: http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2007/01/17/the-sorrow-and-the-pity/ -- www.marxmail.org
