Bangladesh, Nov. 10 -- In Paul Thomas Andersons One Battle After Another (2025), Leonardo DiCaprios character, Bob Ferguson, a disillusioned former revolutionary, watches Gillo Pontecorvos The Battle of Algiers (1966) on television. The juxtaposition is almost comical: a man whose revolutionary aspirations have collapsed into private survival contemplates one of cinemas most powerful representations of collective struggle. Yet the scene raises a question Andersons film never fully confronts: What distinguishes a revolution capable of transforming the world from a rebellion condemned to repeat itself?

The juxtaposition is especially timely. On November 7, The Battle of Algiers was screened at the Brooklyn Academy of Music as part of Playb...