片中主角阿里（Ali La Pointe） 原是阿爾及爾的市井無賴，靠偷竊和詐賭為生。數次被捕後，在獄中接觸到民族解放陣線(FLN)並受到感召。出獄後成為組織的打手，剷除不願合作的當地人，並參與對法裔居民區的恐怖攻擊。與此同時，居住在阿爾及利亞的法裔對當地人的恨意也在升高，開始以相同的手段對付當地人。
《阿尔及尔之战》的靈感来自1962年FLN軍官薩阿迪·耶謝夫的回憶錄《紀念阿爾及爾戰役》（法語：Souvenirs de la Bataille d'Alger）一書。[4] 他在被俘时撰寫了这本书，以提振反抗士气。独立后，阿尔及利亚政府支持将耶謝夫的回忆录改编成电影。 FLN開始與意大利导演吉洛·龐特科爾沃（英语：Gillo Pontecorvo）和编剧佛朗哥·索利納斯（英语：Franco Solinas）取得联系。
^"The Source". The Battle of Algiers booklet accompanying the Criterion Collection DVD release, p. 14.
^The Battle of Algiers booklet accompanying the Criterion Collection DVD release, p. 14.
^Peter Matthews, "The Battle of Algiers: Bombs and Boomerangs", in The Battle of Algiers booklet accompanying the Criterion Collection DVD release, p. 7.
^Arun Kapil, "Selected Biographies of Participants in the French-Algerian War", in The Battle of Algiers booklet accompanying the Criterion Collection DVD release, p. 50.
^Palmer, R. Barton; Sanders, Steven M. (编). The Philosophy of Steven Soderbergh. University Press of Kentucky. January 28, 2011 [12 July 2021]. ISBN 9780813139890. Soderbergh called Traffic his “$47 million Dogme film” and used hand-held camera, available light, and (ostensibly) improvistational performance in an attempt to present a realistic story about illegal drugs. He prepared by analyzing two political films made in a realist style: Battle of Algiers (Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966) and Z (Constantin Costa-Gavras, 1969), both of which he described as having “that great feeling of things that are caught, instead of staged, which is what we were after.”
^Swapnil Dhruv Bose. Steven Soderbergh's 10 best films ranked in order of greatness. Far Out. Far Out Magazine. [12 July 2021]. （原始内容存档于2022-02-18）. The filmmaker said, “For this film, I spent a lot of time analysing Battle of Algiers and Z — both of which have that great feeling of things that are caught, instead of staged, which is what we were after. I just wanted that sensation of chasing the story, this sense that it may outrun us if we don’t move quickly enough.”
^Zack Sharf. Christopher Nolan Reveals How 11 Classic Films Inspired 'Dunkirk'. IndieWire. Penske Business Media, LLC. May 25, 2017 [15 September 2021]. （原始内容存档于2022-02-18）. Nolan cited Gillo Pontecorvo’s war film as “a timeless and affecting verité narrative, which forces empathy with its characters in the least theatrical manner imaginable. We care about the people in the film simply because we feel immersed in their reality and the odds they face.”
^Jonathan Lewis. Good guys and bad guys: The Battle of Algiers and The Dark Knight Rises. openDemocracy. openDemocracy. December 20, 2012 [15 September 2021]. （原始内容存档于2022-02-18）. It was thus with a degree of surprise and interest that I found the latest director to cite The Battle of Algiers as an influence to be Christopher Nolan, the man behind the latest films in the Batman franchise. The final instalment in Nolan’s Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, premiered in July 2012, and brought an end to a story that commenced with 2005’s Batman Begins and 2008’s The Dark Knight. Interviews with Nolan and his team on the making of The Dark Knight Rises indicate that Nolan chose The Battle of Algiers as one of the films for the crew to watch and from which to gain inspiration before they started filming, with Nolan stating that ‘no film has ever captured the chaos and fear of an uprising as vividly as [The Battle of Algiers]’. In the remainder of this article, I will build on Nolan’s above statement, exploring the ways in which traces of Pontecorvo’s film manifest themselves in The Dark Knight Rises, especially with regard to the themes with which the final episode in the Batman trilogy engages.
