Gazing, Settler Cinema, and the Algerian War: Slanted Kisses

Abstract

This article analyses patterns of what I will call de-colonial gazing in Slanted Kisses (1962): a short film directed by two European settlers, in and around Algiers, during the Algerian War (1954–1962). As a means of departure, I identify two types of de-colonial gaze that I argue are crucial to the politics of Slanted Kisses: ‘the amorous gaze’ (linked to a desire to forget about conflict, and to retreat into Eurocentric solitude); and ‘the panoramic gaze’ (linked to a desire to control the colonial landscape, transforming it into a visual spectacle). In the third section of the article, I then examine the allegorical imaginary at play in Slanted Kisses – anchored in visual idioms of light and darkness – before concluding with some thoughts on how this allegory functions in relation to the history of decolonization in Algeria.