Saw The Battle of Algiers at the Castro last night.

Was humbled.

How in the world did they get up the nerve and the resources to make this film?

When I'm at my lowest, fretting over an inability to raise capital or peer participation, I will think of The Battle of Algiers.

Critical analysis of this work is useless. There is, however, this: the day it becomes unprofitable to screen films anywhere other than the comfort of one's own home or--worse--iPod will be a sad day indeed. Seeing this film (as well as Terrance Malick and Nestor Almendros' Days of Heaven) on film after spending literally years bypassing opportunities to view them in compromised editions on video was worth every second of my self-imposed abstinence. The current release of Charles Burnett's The Killer of Sheep will only further this impression.

In the care of accomplished artisans and screened under peerless conditions, film is capable of so, SO much.

Again....

Awe.