R.A.S.

Nothing to Report is considered one of the most significant testimonies about the Algerian War and, thanks to its left-leaning sentiment, it is one of the titles that were regularly reprised in the 1980s on Czechoslovak Television. Its anti-imperialistic theme perfectly fit into the regime's ideological agenda at that time. Disappointment will likely come to those who expect from the film a series of dramatic combat scenes, action, tension, and displays of war technology. The core of the film lies in portraying the feelings of conscripts who undergo training and involuntarily become part of the war machinery. The pitfall I see is that the film works with the feelings and ideas of the left-wing intellectual scene of the 1970s, not with what the French soldiers experienced in the second half of the 1950s. The plot probably takes place in 1958 when the French army successfully pushed the rebels into the most inaccessible parts of the country and it seemed to be heading towards a quick victory. The problem of Nothing to Report is not that its main protagonist is a communist; at that time, the Communist Party was a politically recognized force, but rather that it attributes meanings to its characters that simply do not correspond to the thinking of that time. The Algerian War was not an ordinary colonial war; Algeria was considered an overseas department where many generations of French immigrants lived, and the vast majority of the left wing considered it as an indivisible territory of France at the beginning of the war. After all, it was the left-wing liberals who initiated the war, seeing the rebels as fascist reactionaries and religious fanatics. It was only the weariness from the endless war and the news of war crimes that stirred up the French public and changed their attitude toward Algeria. The French soldiers (except for the majority of Arab conscripts, of course) were characterized by high morals and patriotism, so the scenes in the film are quite confusing and, in some moments, downright misleading. In terms of technical aspects, there is nothing significant to criticize about the film; excellent performances, camera work, editing, and a fascinating desert landscape full of wild gorges. Overall impression: 80%. (10/11/2020)