A movie I've wanted to see for a long time (and finally did several days ago) is the classic "The Battle of Algiers" (Battaglia di Algeri), Gillo Pontecorvo's 1966 film about the Algerian violent struggle for Independence from the French colonial forces in the late 1950s. It's shot in gritty black-and-white documentary style. The film has terror bombings, insurgents, torture, political conversion, counter-terrorism measures, and patriots. I was especialy taken by the chase scenes in the town's Casbah. The insurrectionary mood of the film makes for an emotionally high temperature throughout. With the advent of the "war against terror" in recent years, the film's relevance has only intensified. The film was banned intially in France for fear of creating civil disturbances. (DVD, in French and Arabic, with English subtitles.)
I was motivated to see it because Morocco's struggle for independence from France occurred in the mid-1950s. It was violent, but nothing compared to the Algerian struggle. Having just been to Fes and Marrakech in Morocco, the film helped me imagine what their battles in the streets 50 years ago might have been like.