8/12/2019 Audience Participation

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/audience-participation 1/8

Audience Participation and Films –

The Third Cinema (Part 2)Posted on February 22, 2012 by Ben o Comments 

Pontecor!o, a talented documentary ma"er, intended to centre his #ilm The Battle of

 Algiers on the e$perience o# Al%erians &ithin their community by care#ully reconstructin%

e!ents that occurred se!eral years be#ore independence &as achie!ed' n his o&n &ords,

he produced a &or" o# #iction that portrayed the spirit o# the Al%erian re!olution'

Characters enter and lea!e the narrati!e to en#orce e$periences and en%a%e the audience,

but the main characters do not dominate the #ilm' T&o characters, a French colonel and

an Al%erian terrorist, underpin the story and pro!ide a balance bet&een the con#lictin%

sides'

The #ilm is disturbin%ly realistic, so much so that many Al%erians o# that time cannot &atch

it in its entirety – it is too upsettin%' Pontecor!o adopted a monochromatic documentary

style approach, usin% unloc"ed cameras, unusual #ilmin% an%les, and ori%inal locations #or

the action se*uences to create this realism' +e and his cinemato%rapher, arcello -atii,

spent one month e$perimentin% &ith di##erent cameras to #ind one, an Arri#le$, that %a!e

the desired ima%es &ith hi%h speed #ilm'

The ima%es he produced &ere hi%h contrast and %rainy, .ust li"e ne&sreel #oota%e' n

order to produce this e##ect, copies o# his ori%inal ne%ati!es &ere rephoto%raphed

(nter!ie& &ith Pontecor!o/ tay close to reality)' The o!erall result is a ne&sreelli"e

#ilm, documentin% ho& terrorist recruitment occurs, the &ay people are or%anised durin%

%uerrilla &ar#are, and ho& terrorist %roups are bro"en by the indiscriminate use o# torture'

The documentary e##ect is enhanced by the use o# subtitles and radio ne&s reports played

o!er the action se*uences' n order to pre!ent the audience treatin% the #ilm as a

documentary, Pontecor!o controlled the sound trac" care#ully, and employed techni*uesnot used in documentaries, such as #lashbac"' The o!erall e##ect #or the audience is a #ilm

that has ima%es o# e$treme !iolence, belie!able as real, documentin% a story o# resistance

to oppression' These ima%es create emotions &ithin the audience that can be directed by

the use o# camera an%les and sound'

8/12/2019 Audience Participation

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/audience-participation 2/8

Audience participation is en%a%ed the moment the #ilm starts by personalisin% the

e$perience o# betrayal' The openin% scene depicts an interaction bet&een soldiers and a

prisoner, &ho has .ust been tortured to re!eal the hideout o# the last terrorist %roup'

There is no music, .ust the sound o# a drippin% tap that adds a sense o# #orebodin%' The

torturers are not portrayed as e!il, .ust as soldiers #ollo&in% orders' n #act, the senioro##icer disciplines one #or ma"in% #un o# the prisoner &hen he is #orced to &ear a French

uni#orm and accompany the troops in arrestin% the people he has betrayed' The misery o#

the prisoner is captured by closeup shots o# his reactions and the sound o# solemn

occidental music as he tries to commit suicide' At the end o# this scene the title credits

run, lea!in% the audience emotionally in!ol!ed be#ore the #ilm has really started'

Perhaps the most ama3in% aspect o# the openin% scene is the per#ormance o# the prisoner'

+e &as not a pro#essional actor but a petit thie# &ho had to return to .ail a#ter #ilmin%'

Pontecor!o used only one pro#essional actor in ma"in% The Battle of Algiers, relyin% on

castin% people he considered suitable' The choice o# castin% un"no&ns to play the mo!ie

characters remo!es any e$pectation an audience mi%ht ha!e about &atchin% a &ell "no&

actor'

The Al%erian %o!ernment supported Pontecor!o #inancially by #undin% hal# the cost o#

ma"in% the #ilm, and by allo&in% him #ree access to the city o# Al%iers &ith use o# the

Al%erian army' This le!el o# support made Pontecor!os reconstructions possible, &hich

included sta%in% a riot and rebuildin% an apartment bloc", but he still had to e$tract

per#ormances #rom people &ho &ere not actors' The le!el o# success he had here is

beyond belie#' Pontecor!o &or"ed hard &ith these people by readin% their lines to them

be#ore shootin% and #ilmin% the same scene repeatedly' The reactions and emotions he

obtained are memorable, sometimes emphasi3ed by the use o# #ree3e #rame, momentarily,

to dra& the audiences attention'

8/12/2019 Audience Participation

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/audience-participation 3/8

4hen the openin% credits be%in the audience hears music a%ain, but this time the theme is

di##erent' Pontecor!o, a %reat music lo!er, co&rote the music score &ith 5nnio orricone,

and to%ether they produced an openin% theme rich in percussion creatin% an ed%y

atmosphere that hei%htens the audiences ner!ousness and their e$pectation' This music is

played o!er a scene &here French paratroopers are seen mo!in% o!er the roo#tops o# theCasbah to surround the hidin% terrorists belo&' The roo#top scene is o#ten repeated in the

#ilm to di##erent e##ect, &ith either the French army or Al%erians ta"in% up positions

o!erloo"in% the small streets belo&, creatin% a sense o# con#inement, e!en claustrophobia'

usic is used to %reat e##ect in the scenes depictin% bombin% a#termaths in the Casbah and

French *uarter' The French police per#orm the #irst bombin% act in retaliation #or the

shootin% o# policemen' The audience is sho&n the result/ men reco!erin% bodies #rom the

rubble, dead children, &omen &eepin%, and people prayin%' These scenes are sho&n

silently e$cept #or churchli"e occidental music playin% in the bac"%round' This reduces

the shoc" o# the e!ent, allo&in% the audience to appreciate its horror and to loo" upon the

dead as martyrs' Pontecor!o uses the same tric" &hen depictin% scenes o# torture, &here

people are electrocuted, burnt &ith a blo&torch or repeatedly dro&ned, so that the

audience &atch it' The bombin% scene closes and is #ollo&ed by #oota%e #ilmed inside a

protest march throu%h the Casbah' +ere the audience e$periences the noise o# the march,

includin% ululations or zaghruta (a hauntin% cry made by &omen at times o# %reat %rie# or

happiness), &hich si%nals the appearance o# #emale bombers'

8/12/2019 Audience Participation

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/audience-participation 4/8

6n a day &hen 70 bombs &ere e$ploded in Al%iers, Pontecor!o chose to reconstruct three

e!ents &here Al%erian &omen discarded the !eil to dress as 5uropeans allo&in% them

passa%e throu%h army chec"points to deli!er e$plosi!es, carried in bas"ets, to the &estern

*uarter (Pontecor!o, 1899)' The tar%ets here &ere all ci!ilian ones, a ca#:, a mil"bar and

an airport terminal' These are di##icult scenes to portray i# audience sympathy is to be

retained' To address this problem Pontecor!o made the audience share the &omens

e$perience (Brandy ; Cohen 1888)' +e mana%es this by usin% closeup shots o# each

&oman and point o# !ie& editin% in such a &ay that the audience becomes an acti!e

participant in the narrati!e'

The French sector bombin% se*uences be%in &ith closeup shots o# three Al%erian &omen

chan%in% into 5uropeans, discardin% the !eil, shortenin% their hair and applyin% ma"eup'

These scenes are accompanied by upbeat percussion music that instils a #eelin% that you

are preparin% #or action' An important aspect o# this mise en scéne is the use o# mirrors

(Brandy ; Cohen, 1888)' The se*uence opens &ith a &oman starin% at the audience, but as

the camera pulls bac" it becomes clear that this is a re#lection, placin% the audience

alon%side her as she trans#orms into a French &oman and an Al%erian re!olutionary –

&omen are no lon%er playin% a passi!e and supporti!e role in the con#lict, and neither is

the audience (<hanna, 2007)' The spectators accompany the &omen in deli!erin% the

bombs in the ne$t scenes'

8/12/2019 Audience Participation

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/audience-participation 5/8

Pontecor!o "eeps his audience in!ol!ed in the terrorist acts by placin% them alon%side the

bomber &ith their !ictims' As the &omen mo!e to place their bombs they re%ard their

!ictims, and the audience shares this e$perience by loo"in% at closeups o# the people they

intend to "ill, includin% a baby in a pram' n one scene, the mil"bar one &ith teena%ers,

the son% Tomorrow we live plays on the .u"ebo$, enhancin% the pathos o# the scenario'

The e$pected audience reaction to these scenes, one o# re!olution, does not happen' t is

pre!ented because Pontecor!o "eeps eyeline contact &ith the &omen &here a #lic"er o#

re%ret is sho&n momentarily be#ore the bomb is acti!ated' This is enou%h to con!ince the

audience that this is an act o# retaliation, not e!il, and it &or"s because o# the precedin%

scenes &here sympathy #or the Al%erian dilemma has been de!eloped'

5arlier in the #ilm the audience is put in the shoes o# the main Al%erian character, Ali le

Pointe, a petit thie# and a real li#e character (Ali Ammar), &ho is arrested #or assaultin% a

French student' 4hile tryin% to escape #rom the police #or per#ormin% a card con#idence

tric", Ali le Pointe is tripped up by the student' +e has time to escape but decides a%ainst

this, choosin% instead to hit him' This is an important point in the #ilm because it is &hile

he is imprisoned that he becomes a terrorist a#ter &itnessin% a prisoner bein% %uillotined'

To help the audience understand this decision, Pontecor!o uses closeup shots matchin%

eyelines o# Ali and the student in con.unction &ith camera mo!ement that mimics Alis

8/12/2019 Audience Participation

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/audience-participation 6/8

!ie& o# the student' +ere the audience &itnesses the distain sho&n by the student,

#ollo&ed by #ear as he realises Ali is not %oin% to run a&ay'

early all o# the audience manipulation techni*ues discussed so #ar ha!e created sympathy

#or the Al%erian position in the con#lict' urprisin%ly the #ilm is "no&n #or its balancedapproach' Part o# the reason #or this is because the audience is not manipulated into

hatin% the colonists, &ho also su##er acts o# !iolence that are %i!en e*ual treatment' The

bombin% a#termath scenes sho&in% the French or Al%erian dead are #ilmed in e$actly the

same &ay &ith the same music' n addition to this, both sides o# the con#lict are allo&ed

to state their point o# !ie& as demonstrated in the press con#erence scene, &here

.ournalists *uestion the captured Al%erian leader Ben +idi and the French colonel

athieu' +ere the audience hears the outra%e o# the French colonists #rom the .ournalist,

the response #rom the Al%erian and the .usti#ication #or usin% torture #rom the colonel'

These are deli!ered as statements o# #acts, &ithout embellishment'

The story closes &here it started' nside the hideout o# Ali le Pointe, &ho is &aitin% to be

"illed &ith his coconspirators – a &oman, a man and a boy' The hideout is no more than a

sealed hole in the &all o# an apartment' t is #rom here that Pontecor!o uses #lashbac" at

the start o# the #ilm to tell the story set se!eral years be#ore' The ima%es o# the terrorists

inside their hole are iconic, almost reli%ious, %i!in% the impression that they are martyrs'

This is rein#orced &hen they are "illed' The French paratroopers e$plode a bomb in the

apartment, &hich destroys the &hole buildin% sendin% a blindin% li%ht that spreads throu%h

the narro& streets o# the Casbah' This si%nals the end o# the battle o# Al%iers, &ith the

French %ainin% control o# the Casbah, but not the end o# the #ilm'

Pontecor!o #inishes his #ilm se!eral years a#ter the battle o# Al%iers &hen riots erupted

throu%hout the country' 5!entually this led to independence #rom France' The #inal scenes

o# the #ilm are o# the riot in Al%iers' Pontecor!o used 10 cameras to capture the

8/12/2019 Audience Participation

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/audience-participation 7/8

reconstruction, and lea!es the audience &ith a #inal messa%e' =ou can &in a battle, but

loose the &ar'

Biblio%raphy

Brandy, >' ; Cohen, ' (1888)' Film Theory and Criticism/ ntroductory ?eadin%s' 6$#ord

@ni!ersity Press/ e& =or"

issanaya"e, 4' ; -uneratne, A' (200)' ?ethin"in% Third Cinema' ?outled%e/ >ondon

+ay&ard, ' (2000)' Cinema tudies/ <ey Concepts' ?outled%e/ >ondon

' T' <au#man (200)' 4hat does the Penta%on see in Battle o# Al%iers e& =or" Times,

D eptember'

<hanna, ?' (2007)' Al%eria Cuts/ 4omen and ?epresentation 170 to the present' tan#ord

@ni!ersity Press/ tan#ord

ellon, E' ; Pontocor!o, -' (18D2)' An nter!ie& &ith -illo& Pontecor!o' n/ Film

uarterly, Gol' 29, o' 1, pp' 210' Published by/ @ni!ersity o# Cali#ornia Press

@?>/ http://www.jstor.org/stable/1211406

Pines, E' ; 4illemen, P' (eds) (1878)' uestions o# Third Cinema' BF/ >ondon

Pontecor!o, -' (200H)' tay close to reality'

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/jun2004/pont-j09.shtml 

olanas, F' ; -etino, 6' (18D9)' To&ards a Third Cinema' n/ ichols, B' (5d') o!ies and

ethods/ Gol 1/ An antholo%y pp'HH9H' @ni!ersity o# Cali#ornia Press/ Ber"eley

4ayne, ' (2001)' Political Film/ The dialectics o# Third Cinema' Pluto Press'

The nternet o!ie atabase/ Full cast and cre& #or >a batta%lia di Al%eri

@?>/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt005946/!ullcredits

8/12/2019 Audience Participation

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/audience-participation 8/8

The script o# The Battle o# Al%iers can be do&nloaded #rom

http/II&&&'dailyscript'comIscriptsIboa'html

•