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Days of Glory (Indigenes)

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What is there to say about a film as moving, triumphant, and expertly executed on all accounts as "Days of Glory"? Its praises have been sung by most reviewers, even earning an Oscar nomination for best foreign-language film. "Days of Glory" is an Americanized title, but one that still manages to capture the essence of the film. The original Algerian title is Indigenes, a word used to describe the hundreds of thousands of indigenous soldiers from colonial Africa who fought for France in World War II. Clearly "Indigenous Soldiers" isn't as powerful a title.

Although "Days of Glory" is a sweeping war picture that has been aptly compared to other war dramas like "Saving Private Ryan" and "Glory", at heart it is still a character study, focusing on four Muslim soldiers as they maneuver through the rough terrain on the war field, and the somewhat rougher terrain of racial inequality and injustice in their own camp. Prepared to battle for what they call the "motherland", the North African soldiers who signed up find themselves unsure of how to react to the rampant racism demonstrated by their sergeants.

Each character may be a well-known archetype of war movies (the headstrong leader, the humble and uneducated soldier, the mercenary, the lover) but each actor has the skill and the desire to flesh these characters out into completely realistic and believable people. The acting is intense and honest and watching these men throughout their mission is all the more moving as we are able to see real emotions, desires, and fears. These actors have completely invested themselves into the film, and into their characters, earning a special male ensemble award for Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival.

In the "making of" documentary included on the DVD, lead actor (and producer) Jamel Debbouze tells of how director Rachid Bouchareb approached his four main actors not only with the script, but also with the paperwork showing that each of their grandfathers had actually been involved in the war. This may shed some light on the dedication these men showed in telling this important story. A story so important that it led to French President Jacques Chirac restoring the pensions of the empire veterans (whose pensions we learn in the film were frozen in 1959). In the film's touching final moments, as one of the leads walks the streets in anonymity, we begin to fully understand the completely unrewarded sacrifice these men have made for a country that chose not to reward them... until almost 50 years later.

Bouchareb has finally brought his dream project to life. After trying to get it produced for over a decade, it is abundantly clear that the final product justifies the wait and the effort on so many levels. "Days of Glory" is the kind of film that inspires people to accomplish more and to look for the greatness in others.

Days of Glory, brings to the screen a WWII tale of a French Algerian Unit facing discrimination by its European counterparts due to prejudice and ignorance.
It is 1943 and the setting is North Africa. The French armed forces are preparing to land troops in Europe to win back their homeland from the Axis Powers, but they cannot accomplish their task without recruiting men from their African colonies. The Africans themselves start their long journey full of hope and anticipation, but as they get closer to their goal they realize that their enemy is not necessarily the Germans...
Jamel Debbouze (Asterix and Obelix-Mission Cleopatra) and the rest of the cast carry out their performances very well.
In short, the music, the acting, the plot, the setting (!), and the dialogues are all very good.
In a nutshell, Days of Glory is movie definitely worth watching, as it will surely provide for an evening's entertainment.

'Indigènes' (DAYS OF GLORY) as written by Olivier Lorelle and Rachid Bouchareb (who also directed) is a film of visceral power, another aspect of World War II that has not been addressed and that points to problems of inequality among fighting troops that still exists. It is a grisly film (how can a film about war not be?) but shares a viewpoint that is as shocking as it is important.

During WWII the French military incorporated African men including a large number of Algerian soldiers to fight the Nazis and protect France (and, yes, its protectorates) from oppression. The story focuses on four of these Algerian soldiers who leave their homeland to fight for the ideals of France yet are victims of discrimination and inequality of treatment and advancement, even when they are selected to perform the most hazardous of duties. The men vary from idealist to illiterate but their sense of camaraderie is rock solid: Saïd Otmari (Jamel Debbouze) is unable to read or write and has only one arm, yet he is devoted to his mission of saving France and hence his family in Algeria; Yassir (Samy Naceri) proves to be a marksman and is the one selected to be front man during the most dangerous encounters; Messaoud Souni (Roschdy Zem) finds solace in the love of a French girl Irène (Aurélie Eltvedt) but his communications with her are censured by the military; Abdelkader (Sami Bouajila) is the natural leader among the four yet is not advanced in rank when the Frenchmen are. The only non-Algerian who is supportive of these men is Sergeant Roger Martinez (Bernard Blancan) who attempts intervention with the French over the disillusioned Algerians. In many ways the story is related through the reactions of Abdelkader, especially the heartbreaking ending.

It is the final act of courage when these four men are assigned to assist the American forces in Alsace, an assignment so devastatingly dangerous that no other French forces would accept, that the love and devotion of these men is supremely tested. And as the fragile victory over the Nazis is claimed by the French, we see the last of the Algerian quartet walk unnoticed and uncelebrated through the freed Alsatian town. If the 60 years later ending of the film is a bit maudlin for some viewers, it still makes a solid statement about the courage of these men, fighting for a 'motherland' that all but ignored them. And the story is true!

The battle scenes are realistic, the acting is first caliber, and the production values are excellent, including the cinematography by Patrick Blossier and a musical score by Armand Amar and Cheb Khaled that enhances every aspect of a multicultural war. This is a film about WW II that stands with the best of the stories about the physical and emotional atrocities that war produces. In French and Arabic with subtitles. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, June 07

An intense film that while has often been compared to Saving Private Ryan other than them both being war films has very little in common.

The film depicts Algerian soldiers who had volunteered to fight in the French army during world war 2. The film begins with a village elder in Algeria calling upon the men to fight for the 'motherland' France against German occupation. When enlisted, they are brought together with North African troops who had already been fighting in North Africa and were to be posted to France. They are put under the command of an Algerian born French officer, given the most basic of training and then sent to the front.

Their first battle is to take a hilltop heavily fortified by German forces. While suffering heavy casualties they manage to capture the position. Encouraged by their success and now with valuable military experience they are greeted as heroes in France. Still prejudice is never far away. The first most obvious example we are give is when on board a boat the men are receiving a meal however, the chef refuses to give a tomato to a black soldier resulting in a minor mutiny that is only quelled when their commanding officer assures them that all will receive the same rations.

The army unit moves to the mountains where they are commanded to hold positions in freezing conditions while white French troops are given leave, finally they are given leave only to return back to be given a mission to hold a small French village under near impossible conditions.

Much of the film is given to developing each character. One is an illiterate man from a village, incapable of making his own decisions and quickly falls under the leadership of his commanding officer. Another is a fairly well educated man who seeks promotion in the army and sees himself as a career officer. Then we have two brothers and a man who falls in love with a local girl and hopes that when the war ends, he may return to her and settle down in Marseilles. Finally, there is their commanding officer, who while born in Algeria sees himself as very much French with something of a colonial contempt for the Arabs while keeping a dark secret hidden.

While there is ample time for character development and throughout the film you do come to relate to the characters I found it interesting that the black African soldiers barely said a word (Other than complain about not getting a tomato) and played very much a background role. No doubt they were Senegalese troops due to their dress and there does exists a fair amount of racism towards black Africans by some Arabs so I would have been interested to see something of that examined in the film. I felt the simple "All us colonials together" A little far fetched.

That out of the main characters one it seems wishes to remain in France, another begins to feel increasingly that while Fighting for the freedom of France that should also extend to his own people I found quite realistic. I have spoken to many Africans who had fought during the second word war and many tell of how on returning from the war saw the freedom of their own nation just as important as the freedom of Britain or France for which they fought.

The fact that it has took so long to recognise the contribution of 'colonial' troops during the second world war both in the cinema and in history books may go some way to explain why some would see this film as 'politically correct' The fact that France frozen the pensions of these men who fought to free their country is a source of shame.

This is a touching film. One of the concluding scenes where after the Algerian troops having fought so bravely to defend the village the photographer takes pictures of white troops celebrating with local villages was an excellent way in showing how history has been whitewashed.

Well worth watching.

Director Rachid Bouchareb made "Days of Glory" to draw attention to the plight of men from France's protectorates and colonies who served in the French military during World War II but who were denied their pensions after 1959, because their countries had won independence from France. The film is very politically charged in France, where its title is simply "Indigenes", meaning "natives". It inspired President Jacques Chirac to finally address the pension inequities. Bouchareb doesn't hide his agenda or his bias: The North African soldiers in the film joined the French army mostly for money, occasionally for opportunity. They fought valiantly and loyally to free France from German occupation. They were stifled by discrimination and quotas during the war and discarded afterward. The specific events and characters in the film are fictional, though some French towns were, indeed, liberated by regiments of mostly North African soldiers.

In 1943, France's African Army recruits soldiers from Algeria, among them a young shepherd named Said (Jamel Debbouze), and from "goumiers" in Morocco, including Yassir (Samy Naceri), who hopes to make enough money for his brother to marry well. In 1944, the 7th Algerian Infantry Regiment, under the command of French "pieds-noir" Sergeant Martinez (Bernard Blancan) and Arab Corporal Abdelkader (Sami Bouajila), win France's first victory against the German army in Italy. They arrive in Marseilles to much fanfare, where their marksman Messaoud (Roschdy Zem) begins a relationship with a French woman (Aurelie Bouab). Abdelkader is increasingly frustrated with the lack of promotion and "liberte, egalite, and fraternite" for African soldiers, inspiring a minor civil rights movement. But the war goes on, and the Regiment will be the first French in Alsace, as they attempt to hold the Germans off until the Americans arrive.

"Days of Glory" won't pack the political punch for Americans that it does for French, but this is a terrific war movie. It tells a World War II story that we haven't seen before, and it features two of the most compelling battle scenes I've ever seen: Flushing the Germans out in mountainous Italy elucidates the fear of the soldiers in their first battle and the utter randomness of who lives or dies. The defense of the Alsacian town is in some ways the opposite, as we know the soldiers well by this time and hope they will survive. The four North African leads represent diverse types: Unsophisticated Said's boyish devotion to his Sergeant, mature Messaoud who is not savvy enough to see the hypocrisy around him, mercenary Yassir whose dedication to his comrades grows, and idealistic Abdelkader who hopes their service to France will advance the position of North Africans. Viewers inevitably sympathize with those most like themselves, but those characters involve us emotionally in the events. In French and Arabic with optional subtitles.

The DVD (Weinstein 2007): "The Making of Days of Glory" (24 min) interviews the director, producer, and writer Olivier Lorelle about researching the film, bringing the story of their ancestors to the screen, and shedding light on the role of North African troops. The cast discusses their preparation and characters. Subtitled. "The Colonial Friend" (8 min) is an animated film by director Rachid Bouchareb about the experience of Senegalese infantrymen who fought for France and met a worse fate than the North Africans. The animation style is a unique, eye-catching black-and-white. No dialogue. English and Spanish subtitles are available for the film.

While we are all aware that the French had their sorry rear ends saved by us good old American boys and our stodgy yet noble allies in England, many of us are unaware that indigenous Algerians also played a role in saving the French's sorry rear ends from their Nazi masters, and given the current state of French politics it would appear the French are also mighty ungrateful to the Algerians, though perhaps this film can change that. It shows the struggle that the colonized people, being lauded over and belittled by the French nobly sacrificed their own well-being to free France from tyranny, with the hopes that one day they would be freed from French tyranny, naturally the French screwed them out of their veterans status after the war and out of their pensions....typical....but perhaps in French youngsters see this they'll have more respect for the old Arab man up the street, given that if it weren't for that old Arab man (As well as the old American and old Englishman), then they'd be speaking German. Wonderful part of World War II that doesn't get much press.

I like war movies, i glanced at the box in the video store, quickly misinterpreted what it was about and rented it.

From this fortunate mistake came an interesting and worthwhile experience. For i knew nothing about the colonial French army in WW2 and this is an excellently done movie, that not only informs but motivates and interests me in the topic as well.





Usually movies with an deeply felt political or social point, loose the film making quality, sacrificing it for the bigger emotional point that the authors wish to get across. It is rare for a movie to have good historical knowledge-it's often twisted to fix predispositions, good film making technic-character development, coherent plot, and good filming, and a deep political point or as this movie does tackle currently hot button topics. "Z" and "The Battle of Algiers" and "Hell in a Very Small Place" are the only other movies quite like this one that i can remember, combining war with political and social commentary and not loosing sight of the need to present the film technically well.



The big point is explained in the "making of days of glory", the usual dvd additional features, for once worth watching and much better than the usual shovelware. That is for those French citizens today of North African (or Sengalese) descent to relearn the sacrifices their grandfathers and great-grand fathers made in liberating France from the Nazis. As a second point, for those French citizens of European descent to be more aware and thankful for the few remaining ex-colonials soldiers in their midst before they die, and to acknowledge that those people in their lives from Africa have long ago paid in blood for their right to be there and to be genuine Frenchmen.



The movie is about racism, judging a person by the color of their skin or the culture of their parents without making any attempt to hear their stories, to see what they have done, where they have come from or what they believe. The movie in a rather nice but complex way shows several ways that racism twists and distorts human relationships. It is also good to see the arena as something other than the US, for racism is not just an American problem but a human one.



The scene with the tomatoes. Only white French troops are given them, the North Africans and Sengalese are not. But as the movie points out, bullets don't discriminate, they indiscriminately kill anyone wearing a French uniform. The scene with the ballet dancers, culture is deeply embedded in us all and we can only see it oftentimes when it grinds into another one and the differences are made obvious to us. When the main character mounts the box and tells the soldiers that both France and the colonials must change, there is a veiled reference to the post-WW2 colonial wars of independence that make the issues of the movie so complex and difficult to understand. When you see the violence with which the sargent responses to the knowledge that he is a son of a Berber women, you can (as all good movies do) feel both his shame and the surprise of the other man at his comment being so hated when it was offered in deep and understanding sympathy. And that is the great value of learning with movies, the visceral, the emotional impact of images and a story told with them. Now i can, and probably will, look into the issue with more reading, but this is an excellent place to learn something about a neglected and important time in recent history.



Pieces of the movie are very attractively done, the uniforms-baggy North African turbans and robes with sandals, in the French winter (how can anyone live in this cold?, a point echoed in me). The fear, the brotherhood of warriors, the French white women plus the Berber soldier and the way society seems to conspire to destroy their relationship, the way some of them steal from the dead. The movie is full of unique and moving pieces that will make it a movie worth owning and watching again, there is too much going on, too many new connections for the viewer to make to be satisfied with a single pass through it.



I think that this movie is a genuine contribution to the ongoing dialogue between not just the European colonial powers and their African colonies, but between Islam and Christianity, racism and cultural conflicts. I need only remember that Augustine was called names because he was small and dark, for Monica was a Berber, to remember that Christianity is not European, not in origin nor in extent. I can hate and fear Islam as the greatest competitor of my faith, but that does not mean that every Muslim is my personal enemy, nor does it mean that i can't respect and honor them for their good deeds.



it is a worthwhile experience, not only for the excitement and passion but for an analysis of the deeper and more important issues that it tries to teach and push us into. thanks to all involved in making this movie and making it available to me to watch

Worthy memorial to forgotten North African soldiers of WW II

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

'Days of Glory' is similar to Spike Lee's 'Miracle at St. Anna' as both films deal with the subject of a minority group's contribution to the war effort in World War II. In Lee's film, the focus is on African-Americans and in 'Days of Glory', Arabic-speaking North Africans. The value of both films are that they chronicle the little-known history of discrimination against these minority group soldiers despite all their sacrifices made during wartime.

Toward the beginning of the film, the North African soldiers win a small victory when a Captain rescinds the decision not to serve them tomatoes as part of the their daily rations on a transport ship. But more egregious examples of discrimination which are not reversed are shown such as allowing native 'white' Frenchmen leave while the North Africans get none. Similarly, the whites are always promoted to a higher rank and the Africans always remain in the same subordinate positions. Further resentment is bred when the news media sends pictures and newsreels back home of the white soldiers, giving the false impression that they were the ones doing most of the fighting when in actuality it was the North Africans who were responsible for the bulk of the hand-to-hand combat. The ultimate indignity is referenced at the end of the picture when we learn that all pensions of the North African soldiers were frozen following independence of the French colonies. It's my understanding that this injustice has not been redressed, even to this day.

'Glory' focuses on four soldiers at the beginning of their conscription in North Africa, their initial foray into Italy in 1944 and finally, combat operations against the Germans in France proper. We meet Said, an impoverished Algerian goat farmer who signs up despite the protestations of his mother who fears she'll lose him in combat. The actor who plays Said, Jamel Debbouze, actually has one arm in real life, and must keep the missing appendage in his pocket throughout the film in order to maintain the illusion that he's not handicapped. It turns out that Debbouze is actually one of the film's producers who contributed a bit of money to the film's production, so it appears they could not avoid using him.

The trick in a movie like this is to avoid hagiography by showing each soldier with an inner life and enough conflict between them to keep things interesting. Perhaps the least successful is the character of Messaoud who falls in love with a French woman and is thwarted by the military censors when the letters he sends to her are never received. The other thing we learn about Messaoud is that he joins the majority of the other soldiers in the unit, taunting Said after Staff Sergeant Martinez makes him his orderly. Said puts a knife to Messaoud's throat as he can no longer endure the taunts which imply that he's Martinez's 'girl'. Messaoud eventually goes AWOL due to the aforementioned discriminatory leave policy in an attempt to see his French lover. He's restored after the brass realize they cannot dispense with his skills as a marksman.

Corporal Abdelkader proves to be the film's protagonist. He becomes a corporal after taking an exam (equivalent to a lieutenant in the US Army) and becomes the voice for the rights of the native African minority soldiers. Abdelkader faces Sgt. Martinez down on the ship, winning the right to have the tomatoes served to the men. Later, he's put in the brig after getting into a fight with Martinez over the Army leave policy (instead of the soldiers getting leave, they're forced to watch a French ballet performance inside a tent). Despite Abdelkader's militancy, he's also loyal to France and proves to be courageous in battle. So it's quite sad to see how he's not recognized at war's end and ends up a defeated, lonely man living in a small flat in France, far from his homeland.

There's also Yassir, a Moroccan of Berber extraction (one of the Moroccan 'Gourmier' soldiers) who joins in the soldering for the money. There's a good scene where another soldier prevents him from bashing in the mouth of a dead German soldier and extracting his gold fillings. Later, Yassir is devastated when his brother is killed in combat.

Perhaps the best character in the film is Sgt. Martinez, the 'Pied Noir' (a French national whose ancestors probably were of Spanish extraction who had settled in Algeria). Martinez considers himself thoroughly French and does not want to be associated with the Arab culture. When Said discovers a picture of his Arabic mother and asks him about it, Martinez beats him up and warns him not to tell anyone upon pain of death. Martinez gives 'Days of Glory' its flavor as he is almost brutal in the way he treats his troops but at the same time, sticks up for them when dealing with the higher-ups.

'Days of Glory' emulates many American pictures in its war scenes. There are some gripping battle scenes and the carnage and horror of war is ably depicted (one unforgettable iconic image shows the soldiers eating a meal with a dead horse in a ditch right in front of them). The battle scene at the end of the picture however, where the unit faces off against a much larger group of Germans in a small town, doesn't really ring true. The Germans march into town, taking no cover, and are picked off too easily by the North Africans.

'Days of Glory' is a worthy addition to the pantheon of World War II films. The characters are not all fleshed out but we do learn a great deal of the history of the discrimination endured by these heroic soldiers. Unlike the bloated 'Miracle of St. Anna', 'Glory' feature economical editing coupled with a soundtrack highlighted by some haunting Middle Eastern songs.

I "discovered" "Days of Glory" as a nominee for the Best Foreign Language Oscar of 2006. I understood that I was going to discover a hidden secret from the liner notes and I guess I did. The movie focusses on the French Army's recruitment of volunteers from their African territories during WWII and the service that those recruits experienced. The movie's point was that the African soldiers experienced a lot more that they had expected because of France's discrimination of them. There was little or no promotional potential for them and we view numerous scenes where things are available to the French soldiers but not the African soldiers. The reactions that we witness are a compelling part of the film. Another compelling part of the film were the combat sequences; especially the final battle we watch. Actually, the FINAL battle is the culmination of the discrimination we've already watched. There is a closing account of modern-day issues concerning French war veterans who came from countries that later broke away from the French "Empire". After what we had seen, this information was pretty unsettling.

I could only recall three other WWII films that had French African soldiers in the cast and they were all briefly depicted. I'm giving credit to "Casablanca" but I don't have any strong images of the local soldiers. In another Bogart movie, "Sahara" there was a soldier from (I think) Cameroon who was a part of the ragtag crew associated with Bogart's tank. However, it was "Two Women" (with Sophia Loren) that left a lasting impression on me. It was, to me, an odd scene in which a jeep full of Algerian soldiers came across the title characters. Things happen in war but I was bothered somewhat that the realization that there were Algerian French soldiers in WWII was immediately followed their evil act and quick disappearance. I couldn't help but notice in "Days of Glory" that the soldier's orientation included the admonition to "stay away from the women". Anyhow, I appreciated the more positive impression to go along with the negative one I had seen before.

If you like your war movies Hollywood-free you'll like this movie. It wasn't only the U.S. that defeated Germany and this movie tells the story of Algerian fighters who helped liberate France and bring down the Third Reich.