Product Description

"1943. Although they have never set foot on French soil, four young Algerian soldiers feel it is their duty to enlist along with 130,000 other 'indigenous troops'. Their noble aim is to fight for the liberation of their 'fatherland' from the Nazi enemy ravaging Europe and the world. The epic journey these forgotten heroes embark upon shows us the injustices they faced in the time of war, the fearless courage they displayed in the face of brutal conflict and the discrimination they encountered from the nation they helped defend". So powerful is the impact of Days of Glory (Indigènes), that when it was released in France in September 2006, the French government were forced to challenges the discrimination between the war veteran's pensions received by the colonial troops and those received by French nationals. French president Jacques Chirac was so moved by the film he immediately raised the pensions of thousands of veteran soldiers from former French colonies to the same level as their French national peers. The film has also functioned as a catalyst in rectifying unjust pension laws in Belgium and Italy. The film has bought to light similar injustices faced by British colonial troops like the Gurkhas.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23164 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-09-24
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: French
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 120 minutes

Synopsis
There has never been a WWII film quite like Rachid Bouchareb’s DAYS OF GLORY, which shows the ‘good war’ through the eyes of four North African soldiers fighting for the French army during the German occupation. Though similar in both structure and tone to Steven Spielberg’s SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, GLORY seeks recognition for soldiers who were treated as second-class citizens during their service and never given their due. Under the leadership of Sergeant Martinez (Bernard Blancan), a company of North African soldiers undergoes a series of skirmishes across Italy and France, preventing the advance of the Nazis. Uneducated Said (Jamel Debbouzel, AMELIE), who had few options outside of enlistment, acts as a virtual servant to Martinez. Yassir (Samy Naceri) and his brother, Larbi (Assad Bouab), also come from poverty and--though they joined for selfish reasons--are fierce fighters. Messaoud (Roschdy Zem) is strong and silent, and has deadly aim with a rifle. Abdelkader (Sami Bouajila), however, is the ambitious one, unafraid to speak up when he and his company encounter prejudice, yet ever hopeful that he will be recognized for his achievements and be given the same liberty, equality, and fraternity as those who were born French. Through a series of bloody and spectacular battles with the Germans, these men risk their lives, never knowing what they will have at the end of it all. DAYS OF GLORY packs all the punch of a great war film---thrilling and heartbreaking battles, humor, and the loss of people we grow to care for. Bouchareb fearlessly uses a time-honored genre to address an elephant in the French living room: we are told at the film’s conclusion that, in 1952, France voted to cease pension payments to soldiers from countries no longer under French rule. In 2006, following a screening of this film, Jacques Chirac reinstituted their pensions.

Customer Reviews

A Modern Classic
The terrible, apparently ironic, English title and regular comparisons to Saving Private Ryan do this film no favours. Unlike the Spielberg film, Debouzzel's film engages the mind as well as the heart. It makes interesting and subtle points about the relationship between the coloniser and the colonised. The "message" that most people took from this film, including, famously, the French government, was that France had treated those who had fought for France disgracefully; indeed this film led to a change in government policy which is an outcome not many films achieve. For all its underlying seriousness this a compelling film to watch (more than once); several of the performances are outstanding and the cinematography is breathtaking. This is war film for even those who "don't like war films".

A Debt Owed
In French the word Indigènes, used as the original French title, means 'those who are at home in or belong to a country'. Rachid Bouchareb masterful film takes up this theme of the forgotten armies of indigenous Moroccans, Berbers, Algerians and others from the French colonies who fought bravely in France's wars. Here the film encapsulates all these forgotten days of glory in the acts of WWII. To this date this is a controversial issue in France, highlighted by the 'race' riots in Paris and Marseille over the last two years.

Rachid Bouchareb reminds us of the shame that the names of those who fought bravely for our collective freedom were all but erased from the official history books. As a direct result of Indigènes, African war veterans now finally had their war pensions reinstated.

The film tells a fictional story of four friends interwoven with those these men encounter as liberators and sometimes as lovers, in due course meeting the enemy not just in the opposing forces but also in the institutionalised discrimination and prejudices of the day. Excellent performances and acting by all characters makes this a gripping film to watch.

A highly recommendable work which should also be made available to schools. It shows that everyone's blood is red and that there is no difference in rank or origin when death calls.

I recommend this film together with another outstanding new war movie from Argentina 'Blessed by Fire'.

something of an ironic title, but a simply superb film
So World War 2, and everybody is fighting side by side against a common and hated enemy...nice idea, but it was never that way, and this film highlights this fact brilliantly. Four Algerian men, none of whom have ever set foot upon French soil, heed the call for troops to help liberate what to them is seen as the Motherland. Enlisting without any real thought about what they are doing this for apart from some barely realised idea of duty and honour, the men soon discover that racism exists, even in war, and even from your own side. Regarded with derision (the term "wogs" is used frequently throughout the film) by their own side and their own officers, the men are treated differently and although they fight the same fight, dodge the same bullets and shed the same blood, they are never really recognised for what they are...decent men fighting a horrible war for a country that unfortunately regards them as second class citizens.
The four main characters are superbly realised as living, breathing human beings with hopes and fears just like the rest of us. From Messaoud (Roschdy Zem), a man who falls in love with a beautiful French woman and wants nothing more than to return to her once the fighting is done, through Said (Jamel Debbouze), a dirt poor illiterate young man who joins up in a welter of patriotic fervour and soon discovers that it is not going to be glory after glory, Yassir (Samy Naceri), who has joined up for the money (whether paid or looted) and wants simply to protect his younger brother Larbi, to Abdelkader (Sami Bouajila) the corporal who leads the men and fights against the injustices he sees meted out on his men at every turn (whether it is being overlooked for deserved promotions or simply not getting the same food as the regular French soldiers), each one of them is allowed to grow as the film progresses, so that the viewer feels that they know each and every one of them (an idea Spielberg tried with some success in Saving Private Ryan, but with nothing like the effect here).
Directed by Rachid Bouchareb, this is a film that moves slowly and allows us to empathise and then sympathise with the characters. Whilst it contains some effective action set pieces, in particular a nerve shredding battle towards the end of the movie, this film is not about the violence of warfare, it deals with a very different theme, liberty and the right to be treated with respect. That this film served to force a change in French law, whereby the pension paid to colonial veterans were brought in line with those paid to regular French troops, and brought about similar changes in Holland, Italy and even Great Britain, just goes to show that cinema still has the power to change things for the better. This film is an honour and a privilege to watch, and a true testament to the bravery of men who fought for a country they didn't even know, but they did love.