Insurrection: Control, Power, Flow

The Battle of Algiers employs cinematic techniques which highlight the individual’s relationship to the collective. Throughout the film we see each of the leaders of the revolutionary group, the FLN, chosen to be arrested or killed. These moments are the moments of conflict in which the individual has a choice to make. At each of these moments there is a pause, the camera zooming in on the individual and out to the crowd and zooming back in as a choice is made. At the moment of choice, the individual is lost but his energy is transferred to the energy of the mass. Running on the diagram vertically is the level of awareness of each of the leaders and time running horizontally. The main character Ali is represented by the grey line and we can see his importance in the fact that the crowd has grown dramatically by his moment of capture, suggesting that his energy will be raise awareness of the mass the most.