Omar (Brahim Haggiag), a petty criminal with a lengthy rec ord, is arrested. Five
months later, la Pointe leaves prison and joins the battle for in de pen dence. The
FLN tasks him with an assassination assignment: to kill a French cop obtaining
information about the FLN from an Algerian in for mant. La Pointe is armed with
a gun at the last moment, but attempting to fire the weapon he finds that nothing
happens. In a panic, la Pointe takes down the police officer and flees the scene.
Returning to the FLN, la Pointe angrily asks why he was set up to fail. Djafar (Yacef
Saadi) reveals that this is a hazing ritual for new recruits to confirm that they will
actually fire a weapon when ordered to and remain loyal to the FLN. The FLN, led
in part by la Pointe, spends the next several months exercising its power; banning
alcohol, drugs, and prostitution, attacking police stations; bombing French civil-
ians; and inciting an or ga nized retaliation effort by French officials. By 10 Janu-
ary 1957, French troops enter Algiers with the aim of wiping out the FLN. Jean
Charrot serves as inspector general and organizes the battle against FLN opera-
tives while General Carelle maintains order in Algiers. Lt. Col. Philippe Matthieu
is ordered to lead the daily offensives against the FLN. Matthieu’s plan is straight-
forward: ebb the flow of FLN attacks by apprehending FLN members, torturing
them for names, and then using each bit of information gathered to create a full
orga nizational chart. Once they determine the hierarchy, then their troops can
move to kill the FLN leaders. A few weeks later, a general strike occurs in Algiers.
La Point is informed that those striking would incur the wrath of the French, who
were looking to round up agitators. Four days into the strike, French soldiers begin
capturing, torturing, and interrogating Algerians suspected of involvement with
the FLN. As a result, the orga nizational chart begins to take shape. By February,
Matthieu has zeroed in on the four main leaders of the movement: Si Murad, Ramel,
Jaffar, and Ali La Pointe. He commands that the four men be apprehended and
jailed. Jaffar, hearing of the French plans to round up FNL leadership, suggests
that he and his fellow leaders split up. Several factions of their movement are dead
or out of contact, so they are forced to build up the fourth section and make plans
to reor ga nize. The FLN continue to wreak havoc, detonating a bomb at a race track
and leaving numerous French civilians dead or wounded. By March, French report-
ers demand answers from a now- captive Mr. Ben M’Hidi. The reporters also ques-
tion Col. Matthieu regarding his torture techniques employed in Algiers. The
col o nel, trying to save face, lies and says that they are not torturing the Algerians,
despite the fact that French soldiers are using water torture, electric shocks, and
blow torch burns to the skin and are hanging hog- tied people upside- down. The
Algerians respond with drive-by shootings of French civilians on the street. In late
summer, Ramel and Si Murad are apprehended, and by early fall, French forces
corner Jaffar and blow up a building in order to finalize his death. La Pointe, now
the final FNL leader still alive, joins with a few other FNL supporters to or ga nize
the bombing of several French locations. The flashback ends and brings viewers
back to the pres ent. Col o nel Matthieu and his squadron order la Pointe and his
supporters to abandon their hiding place. The group refuses to yield their posi-
tion, and the French forces begin to set up explosive devices. La Pointe is given a
final chance to surrender, but he will not turn himself in. As a result, the French
BATTLE OF ALGIERS, THE [ItALIAn: LA BATTAGLIA DI ALGERI] 21