The Battle of Algiers on Blu-ray and DVD [read more]
Torn from yesterday's headlines
CultFilms is delighted to announce the hugely anticipated release of the newly restored 4K version of The Battle of Algiers, Gillo Pontecorvo's multi award-winning masterpiece of political cinema, which arrives as a Dual Edition set, its first release on UK Blu-ray and DVD.
Winner of the Golden Lion at the 1966 Venice Film Festival and nominated for three Oscars® (Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Foreign Picture), The Battle of Algiers is a tour de force of world cinema and features a haunting score from maestro Ennio Morricone. It arrives as a stunning luxury collector's set featuring a host of fascinating special features and a booklet and on both Blu-ray and DVD formats in one set, on 15 January 2017. It will be available on VOD platforms on the same date. The restored 4K version of the film recently premiered at Barbican.
Recreating the Algerian struggle for independence from French occupation this powerful, thought provoking film is one of the most influential political movies of all time, depicting the brutal acts of both sides.
Shot in a gritty documentary style, with remarkable crowd scenes, it features the ground-breaking use of amateur actors including Algerian activists such as Saadi Yacef, all adding to the film’s realism - so much so that the film is used by military organisations including the Pentagon to offer insights in to guerrilla strategy and the effects of foreign occupation.
Digitally remastered in 4K and beautifully restored preserving the grainy, newsreel look that the director Gillo Pontecorvo designed, the restoration was made by the L'Immagine Ritrovata with the participation of the director’s son, cinematographer and director Marco Pontecorvo, in collaboration with CultFilms and was nominated for the Best Restored Version Award at the 2016 Venice Film Festival.
