The “powerful” movie that “touched” Steve McQueen
One of the most unique voices within the landscape of political filmmaking, British auteur Steve McQueen has repeatedly managed to garner positive critical attention for his important cinematic works. Ranging from Oscar-winning features like 12 Years A Slave to brilliant TV projects such as Small Axe and Uprising, McQueen has built a brilliant body of work that uses historical lenses to shed light on some of our current sociopolitical situations as well.
McQueen’s latest documentary is no exception, having already turned heads in the festival circuit. Titled Occupied City, it examines the details of the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam and its consequences. During the promotional campaign for the project, the British filmmaker sat down with A.Frame to discuss some of the essential movies that inspired him to pick up a camera and the ways in which they impacted his artistic consciousness.
Citing the works of filmmakers like Yasujirō Ozu, McQueen’s list is full of bonafide masterpieces. He used the opportunity to single out Ozu’s magnum opus: “Tokyo Story is an amazing picture that seeps into you. It hurts so good. It’s like the blues. It’s a beautiful film about this ageing couple who travel to Tokyo to visit their grown children, and it’s all about the undercurrent. It’s incredible, and it is considered one of the greatest films of all time.”
However, even within his excellent selection, the entry that stands out is Gillo Pontecorvo’s seminal 1966 war film, The Battle of Algiers. Often referred to as the apotheosis of political filmmaking, it isn’t hard to see why McQueen was so moved by the work and how it informed his own approach to the craft he has developed over the years. In addition to the impact of the film itself, the director has fond memories of the theatre that hosted it.
McQueen explained: “It was one of those movies that just touched me. It was a powerful picture. I loved what it was saying and how it was saying it. It’s a fantastic picture and is actually the last film to be shown at the Lumiere Cinema in London. That was an extraordinary cinema. You walked in downstairs, and it was like the stomach of a whale, like with these ribs. It was just a gorgeous cinema. Unfortunately, it’s a gym now, but it was a really wonderful time when I saw films as they should be seen.”
The battle of Algiers is an indispensable addition to the world cinema canon, depicting the bold rebellion against the French colonial powers during the Algerian War. Utilising the frameworks of Italian neorealism to paint an emotionally charged portrait of decolonisation efforts, Pontecorvo’s most well-known work is among the greatest war movies ever made.
Watch the trailer below.
