• 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.

4 comments

  • By tim
    February 14, 2009
    06:20 PM

    this man was a really compelling actor. His role in Algiers was great and he should be recognized for his talents
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  • By Urbain Grandier
    March 10, 2009
    04:12 PM

    Speaking of Gillo Pontecorvo, when does Criterion plan on releasing his excellent film: "Queimada!" ?
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  • By inscreenwriting.com
    April 06, 2010
    12:05 AM

    I second the question; when is the 132 minute anamorphic Burn going to be released to DVD/Bluray?
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  • By Michael T. Martin
    April 14, 2010
    06:04 PM

    Yes, the companion to Gillo Pontecorvo's "Battle of Algiers" that is the more schematic interrogation and rendering of the colonial and neocolonial project is "Queimada!" (Burn!). This film starring Marlon Brando, as agent provocateur, warrants Criterion's attention and investment, along with his first feature film "Giovanna," which I highly recommend for its neorealist account of patriarchy and workers' oppression in Northern Italy. For my take on Queimada!, see my essay in Third Text, vol. 23, no. 6 (2009) "Podium for the Truth? Reading Slavery and the Neocolonial Project in the Historical Film," pp. 717-731.
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  • By Arthur Naiman
    November 07, 2011
    01:37 AM

    When does Criterion plan on releasing Pontecorvo's superb film Queimada (a.k..a. Burn!)?
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