Frames of the Algerian War: Pontecorvo’s La Bataille d’Alger and the “War on Terror”

Abstract

This article examines frames of the Algerian War. Specifically, it brings together Judith Butler’s Frames of War with Gillo Pontecorvo’s La Bataille d’Alger (1966) to analyze the cinematic frame and the film’s reception during the “War on Terror.” It thus plots out three frames. One, Butler’s call for critical analysis of what she terms “the framing of the frame.” Two, Pontecorvo’s cinematic frame, particularly as the film reflects on its own framing. Three, how the “War on Terror” and the Pentagon’s screening of the film in 2003 have reframed how the film is viewed today.I bring these three frames into dialogue in a close reading both of the film and its reception. Drawing on Butler’s argument, I analyze how different critics frame their reading of the film in relation to the “War on Terror.” Turning to the film itself, I argue that its own self-reflective use of the frame reveals an ambiguous and polyvalent layering, one that invites viewers to reflect critically on modes of framing. This, I conclude, is the film’s greatest legacy today: the importance of questioning—critically, affectively, and aesthetically—how debates are framed, staged, and mis en scène.