The Battle of Algiers Page #6

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.

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