Directed by Rachid Bouchareb
Written by Rachid Bouchareb and Olivier Lorelle
Starring Jamel Debbouze, Samy Naceri, Roschdy Zem, Sami Bouajila, Bernard Blancan
Rated R
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed…Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron. - Dwight Eisenhower 1953
I love films that shine a spotlight on a part of history that is not in the mainstream. This film by French Algerian Rachid Bouchareb focuses on the African troops (Algerians, Tunisians and Moroccans) that were recruited to help liberate France during World War II.
Specifically, it focuses on four men. Yassir (Samy Naceri) is seeking money (be it from his wages or loot found during the war) so that he can return home and help his brother get married. Messaoud’s (Roschdy Zem) goal is to get married and live in France. Corporal Abdelkader ( Sami Bouajila) is the real conscience of the film. As one of the few men who can read, he is fighting for the equality of the colonized Algerians who, even in battle, face discrimination from the very country they are fighting for. Finally, there is Said (Jamel Debbouze), a poor and illiterate Morroccan who becomes a personal servant to Sgt. Martinez (Bernard Blancan).
The war scenes in the film are masterfully filmed. Bouchareb seems more interested in the scope of the battles. In several scenes, he pulls back so we can see just how many men there are crawling like insects over the terrain. You don’t see carnage in the way you would in something like Saving Private Ryan or The Brotherhood of War, but the action is still intense and very real. I like the way that you feel the impact of war more than seeing it such as when a grenade or mortar explodes and the earth rains down on the men near it.
Like many war films, Days of Glory is a gripping and compelling story that winds its way to a final showdown. The four protagonists arrive at a small French town to await the arrival of Allied forces so they can join them. A German patrol gets there first. Unlike many war films, this final battle is a very personal one. There are only four men. Four men we’ve come to know and love. We understand the challenges they face as Muslims fighting in a strange land. We understand their hopes and dreams. We understand the glory they desire.
We learn at the end of the film that the servicemen from France’s former colonies had their pensions frozen in 1959 shortly before their countries’ independence. After Days of Glory was released in 2006, President Jacques Chirac ordered that pensions be fully restored. Sadly, the epiloque tells us, “Successive governments have delayed payments of these pensions”. A theft…
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