Days Of Glory (Indigenes) (2007) Movie Information:

Days Of Glory (Indigenes) (2007) Directed by: Rachid Bouchareb Days Of Glory (Indigenes) (2007) Written by: Rachid Bouchareb, Olivier Lorelle Days Of Glory (Indigenes) (2007) Cast: Jamel Debbouze, Samy Naceri, Sami Bouajila, Roschdy Zem, Bernard Blancan, Matthieu Simonet

Days Of Glory (Indigenes) (2007) U.S. Distributor: The Weinstein Co. Days Of Glory (Indigenes) (2007) U.K. Distributor: Metrodome

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Days Of Glory (Indigenes) (2007) Synopsis:

Four men enlist in the French army along with 130,000 other North African, or "indigenous," soldiers. They enlist to fight the Nazis and liberate France, but they end up having to fight discrimination in a country they've never even seen.

Days Of Glory (Indigenes) (2007) Movie Review:

This film focuses on a terrible aspect of human history, something that has echoed throughout history, wherever good people have been exploited and unceremoniously ignored. And this particular story from wartime France carries its own emotional punch.

The story centres on a group of North Africans fighting to liberate France from Nazi occupation. Saïd (Debbouze) is a poor, illiterate Algerian who ends up as an assistant to the sergeant (Blancan). Abdelkader (Bouajila) is a natural leader who hopes to rise in the ranks of French officers. Messaoud (Zem) is a gifted marksman who falls for a woman (Eltvedt) in Marseilles. Yassir and Larbi (Naceri and Bouab) are brothers who, when they reach wintry France, can't understand why anyone would live somewhere so cold. They're all on a collision course with the Nazis in Alsace.

This fairly straightforward war epic has a steady flow as it follows these men from their training in Morocco to a trial battle in Italy and then on through France to a final face-off in a nearly deserted Alsatian village. There are similarities to Saving Private Ryan; the Italian assault echoes Normandy, the numbers decrease steadily, chaotic battles spring up around every corner, and there's even a modern day epilogue.

But filmmaker Bouchareb has a much lighter touch than Steven Spielberg, never pushing the point or falling back on sentiment. That doesn't mean he avoids spectacle. The battle sequences are remarkably grand, as well as grounded and gritty. The cinematography is bright and dusty. The performances are natural and earthy, and full of steely resolve mixed with open-faced emotion.

It's also a strikingly important story of devout Muslims fighting patriotically for their motherland, even though they were essentially used as cannon fodder. The country they fought for, in the name of liberty, equality and fraternity, continually treated them as second-rate soldiers despite their bravery and tenacity in battle. They're refused leave, their mail is stopped, they don't even get the same food as the native Europeans. So it's hardly surprising that their situation is made worse by self-loathing and infighting.

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Days Of Glory (Indigenes) (2007) review written by: Rich Cline