Directed by French-Algerian Rachid Bouchareb, Days of Glory is an exciting, action-packed war movie that many will consider akin to Saving Private Ryan or other combat adventure pictures. But there’s a difference here, as Bouchareb’s heroes are couched in a sense of historical injustice that has continued on into modern day France.
Days of Glory was the Algerian nominee for the Best Foreign Language Oscar and won an acting ensemble award at Cannes. It is a powerful, well-acted movie that tells a distinctive, easy-to-follow ensemble story. Bouchareb does well to shoot the performers and the settings, drawing the viewer in with a realistic but not overly bloody portrayal of World War II and the North African soldiers who fought on the side of the French.
The French title for the picture, Indigènes, is a term for the hundreds of thousands of colonial African soldiers who fought for the French in the War. They were Algerians, Tunisians, and Moroccan natives and many were Muslims. Enrolled in the French First Army of the Free French Forces, these men were tasked with liberating the motherland after Nazi occupation. The film chronicles the formation of the crew and highlights many of the campaigns they fought through Italy and France.
In an ensemble picture such as this, there’s no single plotline that springs to the foreground. Instead we experience this group of men as they should be. We are transported into their world and we experience the sights and sounds they experience. The performers bring the characters to life skilfully and passionately.
Among the characters are Saïd Otmari (Jamel Debbouze), an illiterate peasant with rough edges, Sgt. Martinez (Bernard Blancan), a straightforward leader-type who enlists Saïd as a sort of personal assistant, marksman Messaoud (Roschdy Zem), a man who considers himself unlucky until he meets a French girl (Aurélie Eltvedt), and Abdelkader (Sami Bouajila), a natural leader and intellectual who unofficially leads the group. Brothers Yassir (Samy Naceri) and Larbi (Asaad Bouab) steal from corpses and have joined the army to make money.
The story is unique in that it features characters fighting for a France that they have not experienced. They are fighting for a land that they perhaps will never go to, except on missions of liberation, and they are fighting for a people that likely consider them to be second-class human beings. The grungy treatment of the men is highlighted by a particularly powerful scene involving tomatoes and a small rebellion with the aim of treating all men equal.
The film closes informing us that injustice from the War continues on in the lives of the surviving North Africans. It tells us of the decolonization of Africa and how the French government froze pensions and benefits for the wounded for those soldiers who fought on their behalf in World War II from colonies. This occurred in 1959 as the countries began to win their independence. Former French President Jacques Chirac saw Days of Glory in 2006 and abruptly changed the policy to ensure that the pensions were paid.
Days of Glory is an important picture. The resulting justice drawn from the picture is hard to ignore, of course, and Bouchareb’s skill for shooting the piece is well worth a look. The performances are good without overshadowing the subject matter or showing off and the sense of adventure and danger are very real. For a slightly different take on the ensemble war adventure film, check out Days of Glory (Indigènes).
8.6/10
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