This week, French actor Jean Martin died at the age of eighty-six. Though he appeared in more than eighty films (including My Name Is Nobody and The Day of the Jackal), Martin is probably best remembered for his role as the French military chief, Colonel Mathieu, in Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers, a “dry, punctilious performance . . . [that] sheds irony over the whole imperialist enterprise,” wrote Peter Matthews in his essay for the Criterion release. In this clip from our documentary on the making of the film, Pontecorvo and others recall the decision to cast Martin, the only trained actor in the film, and Martin himself shares anecdotes from the shoot, including about entering Algiers, parading at the head of three hundred paratroopers.
1966
121 min
Black and White
1.85:1
2 Comments
Sat 14 Feb at 06:20 PM
tim
this man was a really compelling actor. His role in Algiers was great and he should be recognized for his talents
Tue 10 Mar at 04:12 PM
Urbain Grandier
Speaking of Gillo Pontecorvo, when does Criterion plan on releasing his excellent film: “Queimada!” ?
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