The Battle of Algiers and Paradise Now

...

to convince Khaled, but for Said, the weight of his father’s actions is too unbearable and he continues with his acts of terror. Unlike the bombings in The Battle of Algiers, Said and Khaled’s intended suicide bombings will not allow them to survive. Viewers do not want them to succeed like most did with the women in The Battle of Algiers because viewers want the protagonists to live.

Most people do not think about the lives behind terrorism and why certain terrorists would do what they do. Abu-Assad humanizes the people behind terrorism, especially in Said and Khaled’s martyr declarations. After an eerie and impassioned speech from Khaled, the cameraman asks him to reperform his declaration due to a camera malfunction. In his third attempt, Khaled, upon seeing his mother’s pita bread being eaten, breaks down and gives his true testimony imploring his mother to buy water filters at a new store. Additionally, when Said goes to get his picture taken for his terrorist posters, he is badgered with correct positioning and head angle. No viewer would have expected to see such humor in the life of a terrorist performing plans towards terrorism. Another example of the filmmaker’s humanization of the characters is Abu-Assad’s replication of the scene in The Battle of Algiers where the camera focuses on a child eating an ice cream cone right before one of the women bombers completes her acts of terrorism. In his replication, Abu-Assad portrays Said hesitating as he sees a little girl on the bus he is about to get on and bomb. Said ultimate decision to stay off the bus shows his morality and his humanity. Abu-Assad’s intentional portrayal of the personal embodies the difference between The Battle of Algiers and Paradise Now. Furthermore, Abu-Assad’s use of silence throughout the film is powerful and ominous. When the film goes silent we are forced to focus on the visuals to compensate for what we lack with sound. Especially in the last scenes, where Abu-Assad presents close-ups of all the characters as Said executes the plan. Viewers cannot help but feel empathy and sadness for everyone involved.

Both The Battle of Algiers and Paradise Now successfully presents the limitations in living under occupation and how the struggle for equality and retaliation controls people’s lives. The Battle of Algiers focuses more on national constructs, while Paradise Now emphasizes the characters and their personal constitution. Regardless of how occupation is portrayed, whether through personal or national means, these films prove the correlation between terrorism and oppression. War is a heinous act and everybody involved loses.