The Battle of Algiers Page #11

46HENRY ARNAUD'S HOME. INSIDE. NIGHT.

Two small children are kneeling in front of their beds.

CHILDREN:

Notre Père, dans le ciel ...

Two children, five or six years old, blond, charming, but not affected.

They seem to be twins, and are wearing identical pajamas.

At the same time, a servant is preparing their beds for the night. She

is about fifty years old, her apron clean and ironed; she has gray

hair, her face that of a good woman. She is Algerian. When the

children falter in their prayers, she helps them. When they have

finished she says with an Algerian accent:

SERVANT:

Now, let's go to say good night.

In the dining room, there is a large open window. The beach, the sea,

and the sound of the surf are outside, not too distant. It is a starry

night. At a table, there are four men and four women, all of them well

dressed and tanned. It is the home of Henry and Bernadette Arnaud. The

Assistant Commissioner is in plain clothes. He and his wife seem ill at

ease, somewhat out of place.

The maid and children have entered the room.

BERNADETTE:

Come here, children. Say hello ...

CHILDREN:

Good evening ...

The others smile. The servant accompanies the children to their

parents.

CHILDREN:

Good night, daddy. Good night, mommy.

BERNADETTE:

Good night, dear.

They kiss. At the same time the women make the usual delighted

exclamations. One of the men attracts the Assistant Commissioner's

attention, points to his watch, and makes a sign.

The Assistant Commissioner nods his head affirmatively.

47ALGERIAN STREETS. OUTSIDE. NIGHT.

A DS Citroen is crossing the city at high speed.

The four men are inside. Arnaud is at the wheel. The Assistant

Commissioner is sitting in the back seat.

48 CASBAH ENTRANCE. OUTSIDE. NIGHT.

The automobile arrives at Place du Gouvernement, takes a turn around

the square, then turns toward the blockade, and slows down.

One of the soldiers moves to the center of the ramp, and raises the

phosphorescent flag. The car lowers its headlights and stops.

The soldier goes to the driver's window. In his right hand, he is

holding a machine gun which hangs from his shoulders. He greets them.

He bends to window level:

SOLDIER:

Good evening ...

Arnaud responds in an innocent, cheerful tone:

ARNAUD:

Good evening ... Can we pass?

SOLDIER:

It's too late. No one is allowed to enter

the Casbah at this hour. It's impossible.

ARNAUD:

But it's not even midnight yet!

SOLDIER:

It's ten minutes past midnight. Curfew

begins at midnight.

ARNAUD:

Please, we just want to take a short ride.

A friend of mine has never seen the

Casbah.

SOLDIER:

I'm sorry. Tomorrow. Tonight is out of

the question.

The Assistant Commissioner intervenes with the self-assured and

somewhat arrogant tone common to all policemen. He stretches his arm

toward the window and hands the soldier a card.

ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER

It's alright, they're with me.

The soldier examines the card by the glare of the headlights, hands it

back, and bringing his hand to his visor, he salutes.

SOLDIER:

Okay, sir. Go ahead.

The Assistant Commissioner salutes with his hand.

ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER

Let's go, Henry.

ARNAUD:

(he changes gears)

Thank you. Good evening.

The soldier steps aside, and salutes again.

The automobile begins to move, steadily increasing its speed.

49CASBAH STREET. OUTSIDE. NIGHT.

The streets of the Casbah are deserted, almost completely blackened.

Some cats are frightened by the headlights and run close to the walls.

Inside the car the four men are silent. They keep their eyes fixed

straight ahead of them, their faces concentrating, taut.

ARNAUD:

This way?

ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER

Yes, it's the first intersection ... or

the second.

50RUE DE THÈBES. OUTSIDE. NIGHT.

The automobile slows down at the first intersection. Arnaud leans out

the window and looks. There is an enamel nameplate -- RUE DE THÈBES.

ARNAUD:

Right or left?

ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER

Try going to the right.

The car turns right, moving slowly.

On one side of the street, the even numbers are getting higher: 26 ...

28 ... 30 ...

ARNAUD:

What number is it?

ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER

Eight.

The man next to the Assistant Commissioner says:

FRIEND:

Let's park here. It doesn't matter.

ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER

(in sharp tone)

It does matter. Go back, Henry. Let's go

to number eight.

Arnaud puts the gears in reverse; the car moves back quickly and passes

the intersection: 16 ... 14 ... 12 ... 10 ... 8... it stops.

Arnaud puts it in neutral. With the motor still running, he presses the

cigarette lighter on the dashboard.

The Assistant Commissioner takes a large package that he is holding

under his legs on the car floor. It is wrapped in pieces of newspaper.

He lifts it forward. The man who is next to Arnaud takes it, leans it

against the back of his seat, touches it until he finds the right spot,

unwraps it from that part, and straightens a small plastic tube which

appears at the opening. It is a fuse.

ARNAUD:

How long do you want the timing device?

FRIEND:

Five minutes. Give me a match ...

Arnaud takes the cigarette lighter from the dashboard.

The other man has opened the car door. He takes the lighter and touches

it to the fuse which ignites immediately. The door of number eight is

very near, almost directly opposite the car door.

The man places the package in a shady area and returns to the car in a

run. Arnaud has already changed gears, releases the clutch, and the

automobile shoots forward.

51RUE DE THÈBES. EXPLOSION. OUTSIDE. NIGHT. AUGUST 11, 1956. 12:20 A.M.

The explosion is very violent. The fronts of buildings number eight,

ten, and twelve explode and collapse.

EXPLOSION.

The echo of the explosion has ended. There is a long pause, only some

isolated noises resound. They are stressed, recognizable: a burning

beam, the thud of falling debris, broken glass ...

Then suddenly and almost simultaneously with the other sounds, after

the shock, the human voices, the shouts and weeping are heard.

VOICES, SHOUTS, WEEPING.

52RUE DE THÈBES. OUTSIDE. DAWN.

The dawn's light is clear and white. It dispels every shadow and

designs precisely every outline. Here and there, in the middle of the

sky, there are numerous clouds of dust, strangely motionless. In the

light, the human figures seem black. Seen from a distance, they seem to

be ants upon heaps of debris. There are women, motionless, weeping

softly, their voices similar to prayer. From time to time, there is a

sudden scream, a despairing sob, someone running.

Another corpse is pulled out from the rubble, bodies mutilated or still

intact -- they are all dead.

The people continue to rummage through the debris and to wait around

pitifully.

53CASBAH STREETS. OUTSIDE. DAY.

But there is no pity in the other streets and alleys of the Casbah, or

at the top of the steps. There is anger and hatred. The people are

running and shouting.

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