Pontecorvo's Battle of Algiers
             Gillo Pontecorvo's Battle of Algiers, though filmed in the late 1950's, remains one of the most powerful and emotionally stimulating films of the modern age. The realism captured by the director of photography, Marcello Gatti, laid the blueprint for directors and photographers to mold and shape equally great works in years to come. Gatti's revolutionary use of the hand-held camera was instrumental in creating the simulated eyewitness account. So much so, that the statement "not one foot of newsreel footage was used in its manufacture" was needed so audiences were not confused or misled.
             The film's most intriguing scene is undoubtedly the bombing of the downtown coffeehouse found near the casbah. Approaching the eve of our own country's tragedy, emotion and confusion continue to run high, and Pontecorvo and Gatti's ability to capture such a catastrophic event in such an apocalyptic manner, can't help but fuel the emotional fire of modern audiences. As one New York firefighter said as America's famous tower's burned, "It's almost a beautiful thing." One can't help but feel angered or confused by this statement, but it hold true for all modern tragedies. The power of Pontecorvo's coffeehouse scene is finding beauty in the hideous, capturing a heinous crime against humanity so realistically that in all of its horrific forms it still remains awe-inspiring. It also strikes a nerve on a personal level, as the world arms itself for all-too-familiar religious warfare. The sequence in which the female Algerians shed their religious clothing and arm themselves with explosives is yet another example of the magnificence of modern tragedy. When you live a life of war, it's the enemy that you don't see coming that always delivers the fatal blow. This story can be seen in modern times just as it was ree
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