The paratroopers are here!
JANUARY 10, 1957
Jean Charrot, Inspector General
on special assignment,
presided over a special meeting convened
to organize the fight against rebel activity.
Major decisions were made concerning the maintenance of law and order
and the protection of persons and private property.
General Carelle of the 10th Airborne Division
will be in charge of maintaining order in Algiers.
He will command all civil and military forces
and exercise special powers by official decree.
Mathieu, Philippe. Born August 5, 1907, in Bordeaux.
Rank: lieutenant colonel.
Campaigns: Italy and Normandy.
Member of an anti-Nazi resistance movement.
Expeditions: Madagascar and Suez. Wars: Indochina and Algeria.
So we now average 4.2 attacks a day.
We must distinguish between attacks on individuals and bombings.
As usual, the problem involves:
first, the adversary, and second, the means to destroy him.
There are 400,000 Arabs in Algiers.
Are they all our enemies? We know they're not.
But a small minority holds sway by means of terror and violence.
We must deal with this minority in order to isolate and destroy it.
It's a dangerous enemy that works in the open and underground,
using tried-and-true revolutionary methods as well as original tactics.
It's a faceless enemy, unrecognizable,
blending in with hundreds of others.
It is everywhere. In cafés, in the alleys of the Casbah,
or in the very streets of the European quarter.
This footage was taken by the police
with cameras hidden around Casbah checkpoints.
The police thought it might come in handy, and indeed it does,
to show the futility of certain methods,
or at least their drawbacks.
I deliberately chose footage taken shortly before
a number of recent terrorist attacks.
Among all these Arab men and women
are the perpetrators.
But who are they?
How can we recognize them?
ID checks are ludicrous. If anyone's papers are in order,
it's the terrorist's.
Note the cameraman's hunch. He's sure there's something in that box.
And his film provides us with the details.
There might have been a false bottom with a bomb inside.
We'll never know.
That's enough, Martin.
We have to start from scratch.
The only information we have concerns the organization's structure.
Let's start from there.
It's a pyramid organization
made up of a series of sections. These sections, in turn,
are made up of triangles.
At the apex is the Executive Bureau.
The military head of the Executive Bureau
finds a competent person and names him section head: No. 1.
No. 1 finds two others: nos. 2 and 3.
This makes up the first triangle.
Now Nos. 2 and 3 each select two men:
nos. 4,
5, 6 and 7.
The reason for these geometrics is that each organization member
knows only three other members:
The one who chose him
and the two he himself chose.
Contact is made only in writing.
That's why we don't know our adversaries.
Because, in point of fact, they don't know each other.
To know them is to eliminate them.
Consequently, the purely military aspect of the problem is secondary.
More important is the policing aspect.
I know you dislike that word.
But it's the only one that describes the work at hand.
We must investigate to reconstruct
the pyramid and identify the Executive Bureau.
The basis of our job is intelligence.
The method: interrogation.
Conducted in such a way as to ensure we always get an answer.
In our situation, humane considerations can only lead to despair
and confusion.
I'm sure all units will understand and act accordingly.
Unfortunately, success doesn't depend only on us.
The city must be at our disposal.
We must comb it thoroughly
and question all inhabitants.
But that's where we run into the maze of laws still in force,
as if Algiers were a holiday resort and not a battlefield.
We've requested a free hand, but it's hard to obtain.
So we need an occasion that will justify our intervention
and make it possible.
We ourselves must create this occasion.
Unless our adversary provides us with one, as it seems to be doing now.
To all militants:
After two years of bitter struggle in the cities and in the mountains,
the Algerian people have won a great victory.
On Monday, January 28,
the United Nations will open debate on the Algerian question.
Our entire organization will mobilize to explain this event's importance.
Beginning Monday, the FLN is calling a week-long general strike.
During this period, all armed action will be suspended.
Le Monde! Week-long strike!
The money, please.
We did it!
People of Algeria,
colonial powers, failing to block UN debate on the Algerian question,
will attempt to demonstrate that the FLN represents only a minority.
World opinion is with us.
Let us show our unity.
Support the strike proclaimed by the FLN.
During this entire week, stay away from European quarters.
Do not leave the Casbah. Avoid gathering in closed places,
as this will facilitate raids.
Give shelter to the poor and homeless.
Stock up on food and water for a week.
- They seem calm. - But you can feel something's up.
Like rabbits in a cage. Just as I hoped.
Think they'll obey the order to strike?
I think so.
- Is it going the way you wanted? - I hope so.
What are you calling the operation?
Well, General...
DRINK CHAMPAGNE
- "Operation Champagne." - Why not?
Operation Champagne it is.
The homeless, the unemployed, the beggars.
We've arranged for them to stay with families during the strike.
That way they'll be safe from police raids.
But I don't think they should have been brought here.
It's a mistake. - Why?
You're here. We'd better move you somewhere else.
- Don't you trust them? - I do, but you never know.
All right. You're in charge.
If I were in charge, you wouldn't be in Algiers now.
- Duty first? - Caution is best.
Ali, take Ben M'Hidi to the Maison des Arbres.
Isn't he staying here?
No. Go with him. I'll wait for you to come back.
What do you think?
How's this for a hideout? Looks like a wall.
Take a look inside.
Not now. It's late.
Si Ben M'Hidi, I'll be in touch tomorrow.
Ali, go first.
Cut through the mosque.
The coast is clear.
We can't do anything for a week.
What do you think of the strike?
I think it'll succeed.
I think so, too. It's been well organized.
What will the French do?
Obviously, they'll try everything to break it.
They'll do more than that,
because we've given them an opportunity.
You know what I mean?
Now they'll no longer be groping in the dark.
Every striker
will be a recognizable enemy.
A certified criminal. The French will take the offensive.
Understand what I mean? - Yes.
Jaffar says you weren't in favor of the strike.
- No, I wasn't. - Why not?
Because we were ordered not to use arms.
Acts of violence don't win wars.
Neither wars nor revolutions.
Terrorism is useful as a start.
But then, the people themselves must act.
That's the rationale behind this strike.
To mobilize all Algerians,
to assess our strength.
To prove it to the UN?
Yes, to prove it to the UN.
It may not do any good,
but at least the UN will be able to gauge our strength.
You know, Ali,
it's hard enough to start a revolution,
even harder to sustain it,
and hardest of all to win it.
But it's only afterwards, once we've won,
that the real difficulties begin.
In short, there's still much to do.
You're not tired, Ali?
No.
Wake up!
Everybody out!
You bastards! We'll teach you to strike!
Attention all vehicles!
Load the requisitioned workers! Truck No. 1 to El Biar.
No. 2, the gasworks.
No. 3, the docks.
Attention!
Dispatch all suspects to headquarters.
That one.
You, come here. Stop.
On strike, are you? - I'm sick.
You're too scared to admit it. Admit you're with the FLN.
You're one of them.
Take me for an idiot? Think I can't tell?
The FLN wants you to strike and you won't talk? You dirty Arab!
Suit yourself. Gérard, take him away.
- Come with me. - Are you deaf?
Everyone back to work!
Get a move on!
Day four: The general strike continues.
All activity has come to a halt. No serious incident has been reported.
All is quiet in the Muslim quarter.
I'll call you back.
Mathieu's here.
- Some questions... - I'm meeting with the prefect.
- What's going on? - I'm just assessing the situation.
Go and see for yourselves. You're free to move around.
- The strike seems successful. - It missed its main target.
Insurrection?
That isn't the aim. - You believe the FLN?
It's plausible this time. A strike might convince the UN.
The UN is far away. How can it gauge a strike's magnitude?
Bombs would be more practical. That would be my choice.
What would armed insurrection mean now?
What it always means: an inevitable phase in revolutionary warfare.
After terrorism comes armed insurrection.
Just as guerrilla warfare leads to warfare proper.
Dien Bien Phu?
Exactly. But in Indochina they won.
- And here? - That depends on you.
On us? You intend to sign us up?
God forbid! Just do your reporting and do it well.
It's not warriors we need. - Then what?
Political will, which is sometimes there and sometimes isn't.
Sometimes it's not enough. What did Paris say yesterday?
Nothing. Another article by Sartre.
Why are the Sartres always born on the other side?
Then you like Sartre?
No, but I like him even less as a foe.
1, 2, 3, 4... Come with me.
Move it.
- What's that? - The dance hall.
Let's get it over with. Repeat what you said and you can go.
Name? - Smain.
- First name? - Ahmed.
- Section? - Second section.
- Be more precise. - Second section.
Casbah, Algiers West.
- Which group? - Third group.
- What was your role? - Head of the sixth cell.
That'll do.
DAY SIX OF THE STRIKE
People of the Casbah,
the FLN wants to stop you from working.
The FLN is forcing you to close your shops.
The FLN wants to starve you and condemn you to poverty.
The FLN wants to stop you from working.
People of the Casbah,
France is your motherland.
Mohammed! Mohammed! Have you seen him?
The FLN wants to starve you and condemn you to poverty.
People of the Casbah, resist the FLN's orders.
Thank God you're home.
God bless you, my children.
Have you seen my brother Said?
Algerians! Brothers! Take heart!
The FLN tells you not to be afraid!
Don't worry, we're winning.
The FLN is on your side.
Long live Algeria!
FEBRUARY 5, 1957
FINAL DAY OF THE STRIKE
Open the shop.
Go on!
Faster!
The UN General Assembly,
all motions having failed to obtain a majority,
has passed a resolution ruling out any direct intervention in Algeria.
The UN, however, hopes that in a spirit of cooperation,
a peaceful, democratic and fair solution will be found
in keeping with the principles of the UN charter.
Good. Well done.
Now we can go turn in.
The end of the strike changes nothing. Instructions remain the same.
Give your boys the usual orders.
We must occupy the Casbah 24 hours a day.
We must continue our work here, without respite.
Any of you ever suffer from tapeworm?
It's a worm that can grow infinitely.
You can destroy its thousands of segments
but as long as the head remains, it rebuilds and proliferates.
The FLN is similarly organized.
The head is the Executive Bureau. Several persons.
As long as they're not eliminated, we're back to zero.
Here are four of them.
I found these in the police records.
I had the snapshots blown up.
Si Murad.
Ramel.
Jaffar.
Ali La Pointe.
Print up a thousand copies and distribute them to our men.
Who else lives here?
I told you. My daughter upstairs, and my husband, who's at work.
Okay, Pierre. Let's go.
They're gone.
There were ten this time.
- Paratroopers? - Yes.
Did a traitor bring them here?
They came alone.
They asked questions. They didn't hurt anyone.
Jibela Malika has been arrested.
Sheik Abdullah has been arrested...
People of the Casbah, the FLN has lost the battle.
Stand up to its dying authority.
Work with us to build a new Algeria.
Mujid Ben Ali has been arrested.
- What's wrong? - They arrested him.
Take courage.
We'll split up. We must change our hideouts.
We must reestablish our contacts.
We must replace those arrested and killed
and reorganize our groups.
We have to make our presence felt.
That'll come later.
No. Right now. Leave it to me.
No. None of us will do anything.
We have to resist as much as we can,
without giving the enemy a chance to catch us. Agreed?
We have to do something.
That's why we must reestablish our contacts first.
- How do we move? - I'll take care of that.
I'll be out in three months.
Hey, look!
Quick, hide us! We're being followed.
Where? On the terrace?
Come in, brothers. God protect you.
Hide in the well. God be with you.
They're gone. Wait until I call. Then you can come up.
Thank you.
The first section's dead. There's no one left.
We lost contact with the second.
The third is reorganizing.
All that's left is the fourth. It's enough to start over with.
FEBRUARY 25, 1957
Bastard! You'll pay for the others!
Keep calm! Get back!
MARCH 4, 1957
No more photographs.
Mr. Ben M'Hidi,
isn't it cowardly to use your women's baskets
to carry bombs, which have taken so many innocent lives?
Isn't it even more cowardly to attack defenseless villages
with napalm bombs that kill many thousands of times more?
Obviously, planes would make things easier for us.
Give us your bombers, sir,
and you can have our baskets.
The FLN has more of a chance of defeating the French army
than the French have of changing the course of history.
According to a declaration by Colonel Mathieu,
you were arrested by chance. Practically by mistake.
The paratroopers
were looking for someone less important than you.
Can you tell us why you were in that apartment
on rue Debussy?
All I can say is I wish I'd never set foot there.
That'll be all. It's late and we have work to do.
So the show's over?
Yes, it's over.
Before it has the opposite effect.
People of the Casbah, the rebellion is dying out.
Ali Mohammed, head of FLN Section 2, was killed this morning.
People of Algiers,
turn in the agitators.
Disassociate yourselves from the rebel organization.
The army is protecting you. Trust in it.
Colonel Mathieu,
the spokesman for the Resident Minister, Mr. Gorlin,
states that Larbi Ben M'Hidi
hanged himself in his cell
using strips of his shirt that he made into a rope
and tied to the bars of his window.
Given his stated intention to escape at the first opportunity,
it was thought necessary
to keep the prisoner bound
hand and foot at all times. In your opinion, Colonel,
in such a condition, can a man
tear his shirt up, make a rope out of it,
and hang himself from a window?
Ask the spokesman about that.
I didn't make such a statement.
For my part, I had the chance to appreciate the moral fiber,
courage and commitment of Ben M'Hidi to his own ideals.
And so, notwithstanding the great danger he represented,
I pay tribute to his memory.
There's been a lot of talk, not only of the paratroopers' success,
but also of the methods they're said to use.
Can you comment on this?
Their success is the result of these methods.
One depends on the other.
Excuse me, Colonel.
It seems to be that, perhaps out of an excess of caution,
my colleagues keep asking you indirect questions
to which you can only reply in a roundabout way.
It would be better to call...
a spade a spade. So let's talk about torture.
I understand. And you? Have you no question?
They've all been asked. I'd just like more precise answers.
Let's try to be precise. The word "torture" isn't used in our orders.
We use interrogation as the only valid police method
against clandestine activity.
The FLN asks all its members,
in case of capture, to remain silent for 24 hours.
Then they may talk.
This gives the FLN time to render any information useless.
And us? What form of questioning must we adopt?
Civil law procedures,
which take months for a mere misdemeanor?
Legality can be inconvenient.
Is it legal to set off bombs in public places?
Remember Ben M'Hidi's answer when you asked him the question.
No, gentlemen, believe me. It's a vicious circle.
We could talk for hours to no avail, because that isn't the problem.
The problem is this:
The FLN wants to throw us out of Algeria, and we want to stay.
Even with slight shades of opinion,
you all agree that we must stay.
When the FLN rebellion began, there were no shades at all.
Every paper, the communist press included, wanted it crushed.
We're here for that reason alone.
We're neither madmen nor sadists.
Those who call us fascists
forget the role many of us played in the Resistance.
Those who call us Nazis
don't know that some of us survived Dachau and Buchenwald.
We are soldiers. Our duty is to win.
Therefore, to be precise,
it's my turn to ask a question.
Should France stay in Algeria?
If your answer is still yes,
then you must accept all the consequences.
A doctor! He's been stabbed!
I'm out of ammo!
Look there!
Run them down!
AUGUST 26, 1957
Make way for the colonel.
There's no point playing the hero. Hand me the megaphone.
Ramel. Si Murad.
Listen:
I wouldn't want to be in your shoes when you're captured.
You know we'll get you.
Surrender and you won't be harmed. You'll get a fair trial.
Do you hear? - Who's speaking?
Mathieu. Colonel Mathieu.
We don't trust you.
Come closer.
Let us see you.
Why don't you trust me?
Stand up so that we can see you.
Keep your hands still and in sight.
But we want the promise of a fair trial in writing.
Give us a written promise. Then we'll surrender.
How do I get it to you?
We'll lower our guns in a basket.
Fair enough. I'm make this statement in writing.
Finished?
Yes, finished.
- Ready, Mathieu? - Yes, but let's see you first.
28, 27, 26,
25, 24, 23...
We can see them now. Go ahead.
Here.
You know that when I give my word, I keep it.
The bastard! He got away!
Faster, dirty Arab!
Take this, you dog!
Burn all the papers.
SEPTEMBER 24, 1957
Don't leave a trace.
Which of you is Zakia?
You?
Go tell Jaffar to surrender
or we'll blow up the house and everyone in it.
Try to convince him if you want to keep your house.
Got that?
Wait. You'll get yourself killed.
Jaffar!
Zakia's coming up. I wouldn't shoot if I were you.
Go on now.
Jaffar.
Listen to me.
They say if you don't come down,
they'll blow up the house.
You can tell them to blow up whatever they want.
Go tell them!
He says he won't surrender, that you can blow it all up.
All right. Join the others.
Prepare the explosives.
Get as close as possible, but don't take risks.
Use a long fuse, then cut it.
Give them cover while they work.
You, keep your eyes open. Anything can happen, as we know.
It's really pointless to die like this.
Mathieu! If you give me your word not to hurt anyone in this house,
we'll come down.
I'd have hated to blow you all up.
Why?
Your picture and your file
have been on my desk for months.
I have the feeling I know you a bit.
You don't strike me as the kind for empty gestures.
You seem satisfied to have me alive.
Yes, I am.
I thought you'd regret it. I gave you an unexpected advantage.
No, only the satisfaction of having had the right hunch.
Technically speaking,
we can't talk about advantages. The game's over.
Monster! Hypocrite! You're wrong. Ali La Pointe is still in the Casbah.
What's she saying?
She says Ali La Pointe is still free.
- Come in. - I'm coming.
You're tired. Go rest.
Omar, go to bed.
We have a job tomorrow.
Myself, Mahmud, Hassiba...
and you.
There's no one else left. Sadek will drive.
You get out, plant the bomb, and come back fast.
Be sure they don't follow you. Then we'll get out.
Hassiba first, then Mahmud. I'll see to the rest.
Wake up.
Sleep well? Get ready to go.
- Is it time? - Almost.
Hassiba! - I'm ready.
I heard a truck.
So did I. But if it was Sadek, he'd be here by now.
- How's your wife? - She's fine.
Inside!
Outside!
On your feet!
Well?
All ready. I had the house evacuated.
- Has he answered? - Absolute silence.
I thought as much.
Ali La Pointe!
At least let the others out, or you'll all be blown up.
The boy will just go to the reformatory for a while.
Why let him die?
He's still here? Take him away.
Ali... Ali La Pointe!
You have another 30 seconds. What are you hoping for?
Anyway, you've lost.
Think hard. Thirty seconds.
Thirty seconds from now.
Whoever wants to can go.
- What'll you do? - I don't trust them.
You four stay here. Come down when I give the signal.
- Everything ready? - All ready, sir.
Stand back.
You two cover him and be careful. You never know.
The tapeworm's headless now.
Satisfied, Mathieu? - Yes, sir.
- The FLN is decapitated in Algiers. - We'll hear no more of it.
At least for the time being. - Forever, let's hope.
They're basically decent people. We got on fine for 130 years.
Why shouldn't it continue? - But Algiers isn't all of Algeria.
No, Algiers isn't all Algeria.
True, but for now let's settle for Algiers.
Things are much easier in the mountains.
Good-bye, sir.
Good-bye, Mathieu. I'll see you this afternoon.
Yes, sir.
DECEMBER 11, 1960
For some unknown reason, due to some obscure motive,
after two years of relative quiet,
with the war contained mostly
in the mountains, disturbances broke out again without warning,
and nobody knows why or how.
I phoned Tunis.
I spoke to an exiled FLN chief, but he knows nothing either.
Long live Algeria!
This morning, for the first time, out came flags with crescent and star.
Thousands of flags,
probably made overnight.
"Flags" is hardly the word. More like torn sheets, shirts, rags -
but flags nevertheless.
We're marching for freedom!
The situation is more tense today.
Despite pressure
from the most rigid colonialists, the government had given orders
not to open fire except as a last resort.
Attempts were made this afternoon to descend into the European quarter.
There were several casualties, but things seem to have calmed down.
The Muslim quarters still echo
with those unintelligible and frightening rhythmic cries.
The surprising unity of these demonstrations
has made a deep impression on French public opinion.
According to Paris, a significant segment of the political class
is in favor of seeking a new relationship with Algeria.
DECEMBER 21, 1960
LAST DAY OF DEMONSTRATIONS
Listen to me!
Return to your homes!
What do you want?
Independence!
Our pride!
We want our freedom!
Two more years of struggle still lay ahead.
Then, on July 2, 1962, with its independence,
the Algerian nation was born.
Based on a True Story by SAADI YACEF