Days of Glory (Indignes)

Days of Glory is a powerful film directed by Rachid Bouchereb set during World War II. It tells the story of a squad of North African soldiers who fought with France against the Nazis. These men are truly some of the unsung heroes of the war.

The film goes into some detail about a few of the men. Yassir (Samy Naceri) and Larbi (Assaad Bouab) are two brothers who are religious Muslims. Although Yassir is enthusiastic about helping his mother country (as France was known to Algeria and Morocco) Larbi is less so. Messaoud is good at firing a gun but when he meets a lovely Frenchwoman his whole attitude changes. He would like to put the war behind him and return to her side but that is not a possibility. Abdelkader is a Corporal and he is quite an ambitious sort. It appears that he would like to rise in the ranks of the military. Said has no ambition and just does whatever is expected of him. He becomes the gofer for the mean spirited Sergeant Martinez, who seems to be a man with a secret.

These men were very brave and risked their lives to save France. But they were not treated as equals because of color of their skin. For example, the French soldiers were allowed to take leave but the North African soldiers were not allowed to do so. This reminded me of a scene from Flags of Our Fathers in which Ira Hayes, who fought for his country, was not allowed into a bar because he was a Native American Indian. Even if people of color fought for their country they were still looked down upon inferior beings.

Bouchereb does a fine job of directing the film. The battle scenes are gritty and realistic. And his screenplay, co-written with Olivier Lorelle, makes us care about these men and hope that they survive. All of the acting is terrific and these men (who are not well known actors) won a Best Actor Ensemble award at this year's Cannes Film Festival. The certainly deserved it.

Days of Glory is not only an important film from a cinematical point of view. It is important from a moral and historical point of view. Before I heard of this film I knew nothing about these brave North African soldiers. The way they were treated during and after the war is a crime. I highly recommend this film and hope that people go to see it because it will give them a new perspective on the war and those who fought it.