The Battle of Algiers Page #3

A POLICE SIREN IS HEARD.

Ali pushes his way through the crowd.

He breaks into a run.

The policeman also begins to run.

9STREET. ALI'S FLIGHT. OUTSIDE. DAY.

The street is sloping. Ali flees, pursued by the policeman. He dodges

passersby with agility. He gains ground. But nearby are heard ...

SIRENS:

and also in front of him.

Another two policemen; they too are running.

There is an intersection. At the corner, a cafe.

GAY MUSIC.

Young Europeans leaning against a shop window stop chattering and look.

Ali reaches the corner, crosses the street, passes by the bar.

There is a blond youth, about eighteen, who seems to be a student who

stretches out his foot, and pushes a chair in front of him.

Ali stumbles and falls.

The youth attempts a laugh, and at the same time moves backward.

Ali is lying face downward, but suddenly turns his head toward the

youth and stares at him. Then lifting himself by his arms, he turns to

look back.

The police are now twenty yards away.

Ali gets to his feet. For a split second, he hesitates. He hurls

himself against the youth, headfirst.

Using his head, Ali rams into the youth's face, striking him in the

nose and splurting blood everywhere.

The youth is unable to shout. He opens his mouth in the attempt, but

the only result is a gurgling sound and blood. His friends intervene.

Ali is surrounded. The police arrive. A mass of people jump on Ali,

kicking him and striking him with their fists as long as they please.

Finally the police aid Ali and disperse the crowd.

Ali is now in handcuffs and being led away.

More people have arrived. They are yelling, shouting insults, and

spitting on Ali.

Ali passes in their midst protected by the police. He pays no heed to

the fist blows, the shouts, the spits, but seems neither to see nor

hear, as if he were already resigned to having lost the battle this

time, and were preparing to wait patiently for a better chance.

He is walking with an unfaltering step. His face is emotionless, oval,

swarthy. His hair black and wavy, his forehead low and wide; his eyes

large and slanted with eyelids somewhat lowered, his mouth firm and

proud.

SPEAKER:

Omar Ali, known as "Ali la Pointe" born

in Miliana, March 1, 1930. Education:

Illiterate. Occupation: Manual laborer,

farm hand, boxer, presently unemployed.

Former convictions: 1942 -- Oran Juvenile

Court, one year of reformatory school for

acts of vandalism. 1944 -- Two years of

reformatory school for theft. 1949 --

Court of Algiers, eight months for

compulsory prostitution and resisting

arrest. Habitual offender.

10PARIS 1955. OUTSIDE. DAY.

The air is clear and springlike. A 4CV Citroen delivery van is parked

in front of the Minister of the Interior warehouses. The rear door is

open, the motor is running, a policeman is at the wheel. Two workers in

overalls exit from the warehouses.

Each one is carrying a box, and places it inside the van. The boxes are

made of seasoned wood, both of them rectangular. They are each about

eight inches long; one and two yards high respectively. The two workers

sit down inside the van, toward the rear. They are facing toward the

exterior. Their feet are dangling and almost touch the ground.

The jolting movement of the van in motion causes them to laugh.

STREETS OF PARIS. Spring. Girls with lightweight clinging dresses. The

two workers call them, whistle, gesture, and then move off in the

distance.

ORLY AIRPORT. The van stops in front of a warehouse. The two workers

jump to the ground, place the boxes on their shoulders, and enter the

warehouse.

The boxes are moving on a mobile ramp. There is a large label on each

one which says:
REPUBLIC OF FRANCE. MINISTER OF THE INTERIOR.

DESTINATION:
BARBEROUSSE PRISON. ALGIERS.

11ALGIERS. BARBEROUSSE PRISON. OUTSIDE. MORNING.

Barberousse prison is situated on the outskirts of the Upper Casbah. It

is an ancient fortress with thick, high surrounding walls, which appear

to vanish in contrast with the central building which dominates them.

The whole structure is covered with limestone like the other houses of

the Casbah. Only the bars on the windows and the big gate are black.

The gate opens. A covered jeep enters the prison courtyard. In the

stronghold of the jeep are the two boxes sent from Paris.

Early morning. The sky is pale blue. In the prison courtyard, the

workers open the two chests and assemble the guillotine. It is possible

to see it from the cell windows that face the courtyard. Faces of

prisoners appear between the bars of some windows.

The workers have disappeared. Only the delicate, makeshift structure of

the guillotine is visible, its slender outline lengthened.

12PRISON CELL. INSIDE. MORNING.

In one of the cells there are about twenty prisoners. The cell is huge;

there are two very high windows that almost reach the ceiling.

A prisoner is standing on the urine bucket, and looks outside through

the barred window. On the ground there are some mats which serve as

beds. Nothing else.

About ten prisoners are in a group, seated on the ground, and they are

speaking in whispers.

AD LIB DIALOGUE IN LOWERED VOICES.

Two of them are playing with some stones on a chessboard drawn in the

dirt; others are speaking among themselves. One is reading a Mickey

Mouse comic book and laughing to himself. But all of them, in

appearance and behavior, are distinguished from those who make up the

more numerous group. These solitary men are different in some way, they

are not ordinary delinquents.

Ali la Pointe is alone, withdrawn from the others, seated on the

ground, his shoulders propped against the wall, his knees raised. He is

barefoot. On his left ankle, directly above his foot, are tattooed two

words in print:
TAIS-TOI. His shirt is unbuttoned and on his chest are

other tattoos in a strange design.

Ali looks at the group and seems to listen to their murmured words

absent-mindedly. His expression is taciturn, reserved, and indifferent.

Ali turns to the prisoner at the window.

PRISONER AT WINDOW

Look at them!

Ali jumps to his feet. Everyone moves toward the two windows.

Ali moves away two yards at a quick pace, then runs toward the window,

and grabbing hold of the bars, heaves himself up to it.

The condemned man turns and looks up toward the windows. He seems to

smile although his face is motionless. In a soft voice, he speaks to

those faces which appear behind the bars:

CONDEMNED MAN:

Tahia el Djez-air! [Long live Algeria!]

The political prisoners take up the phrase and recite it gutturally,

keeping time to the steps of the condemned man.

POLITICAL PRISONERS

Tahia el Djez-air!

13 PRISON COURTYARD. OUTSIDE. MORNING.

The condemned man walks toward the guillotine accompanied by guards and

a priest reading the Koran. There is also the executioner wearing a

black hood. The executioner tries to appear indifferent. The priest

recites his prayers. The entire ceremony seems improvised and hasty.

The epilogue is reached quickly.

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