The press conference scene provides and demonstrates the constant change in public opinion about the War. Colonel Mathieu was just brought in to win the war in Algiers and has successful history. After a couple months of leading the French, Mathieu is being criticized and harped on about his use of torture. Colonel Mathieu is a little taken back by this because his strategies were asked for. When applying them and helping thwart the terrorism, he is now being questioned. This is a classic example of the desire for both War and Peace. It is not possible to have both. The French want to win the war but when they hear about the torture, they believe this is mistreatment of the Algiers in Casbah. Public opinions about wars are always different, but many times people believe war is necessary but then do not agree with the way a country goes about it. Without experience fighting in wars, it is almost impossible to understand it. War is War. It is not a video game. You can not physically win a war by being peaceful. Asking to show peace during war is pretty much waving the white flag. I am not saying I am pro war or pro torture, I am just stating that War and Peace is not a viable combination. The public opinion in the film is very realistic and enhances the film’s realism as this issue still comes up in today’s wars.
I think your post is very intriguing and brings up a very good point. There is a desire from the French in Pontecorvo’s film for both war and peace. The French wanted the terrorism to stop but they did not want troops to torture the FLN or other POW (prisoners of war). Perhaps this is why Battle of Algiers was banned in France, perhaps because at this time in history it really was that people wanted a balance of war and peace, and perhaps in some French homes families were disillusioned to think that there was both war and peace occurring so that when the film exposed the realism of the war many people were repulsed.