Days of Glory (2006)
"Indigènes" (original title)

During WWII, four North African men enlist in the French army to liberate that country from Nazi oppression, and to fight French discrimination.

Director:

Rachid Bouchareb

Writers:

Rachid Bouchareb, Olivier Lorelle

Stars:

Jamel Debbouze, Samy Naceri, Roschdy Zem

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 9 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jamel Debbouze	...	Saïd Otmari
Samy Naceri	...	Yassir
Roschdy Zem	...	Messaoud Souni
Sami Bouajila	...	Abdelkader
Bernard Blancan	...	Sergent Roger Martinez
Mathieu Simonet	...	Caporal Leroux
Assaad Bouab	...	Larbi
Benoît Giros	...	Capitaine Durieux
Mélanie Laurent	...	Margueritte village Vosges
Antoine Chappey	...	Le colonel
Aurélie Eltvedt	...	Irène
Thomas Langmann	...	Le journaliste
Thibault de Montalembert	...	Capitaine Martin
Dioucounda Koma	...	Touré (as Diouc Koma)
Philippe Beglia	...	Rambert

Storyline

Algeria, 1943, through Italy and France, to Alsace in early 1945, with a coda years later. Arabs volunteer to fight Nazis to liberate France, their motherland. We follow Saïd, dirt poor, an orderly for a grizzled sergeant, Martinez, a pied noir with some willingness to speak up for his Arab troops; Messaoud, a crack shot, who in Province falls in love with a French woman who loves him back; and Abdelkader, a corporal, a budding intellectual with a keen sense of injustice. The men fight with courage against a backdrop of small and large indignities: French soldiers get better food, time for leave, and promotions. Is the promise of liberty, equality, and fraternity hollow?

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Plot Keywords:

soldier | love | sergeant | arab | alsace | 

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Taglines:

The true story of World War II's forgotten heroes

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for war violence and brief language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Algeria France Morocco Belgium

Language:

French Arabic

Release Date:

27 September 2006 (France)

Also Known As:

Days of Glory

Filming Locations:

Agadir, Morocco

Box Office

Budget:

€14,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£64,434 (UK) (30 March 2007)

Gross:

$317,594 (USA) (20 April 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tessalit Productions, Kiss Films, France 2 Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min 123 min (Ontario) 120 min 128 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Black and White Black and White (archive footage) Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The main actors, all of North African descent, did not know of France's discrimination towards foreign soldiers serving in the French army during World War 2 until filming began.

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Goofs

In the scene when the African soldiers raise the French tricolor over the Italian mountain top, the flag they use is polyester (i.e. a contemporary flag). World War II troops would have used a cotton flag.

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Connections

Followed by Hors la loi (2010)

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Soundtracks

"El Babour"
Wrtitten by Armand Amar
Performed by Cheb Khaled

User Reviews

very poignant movie about different cultures

This is the tale of a very intrepid group of diverse African peoples that were recruited to help defend and free France during WW2. It was very inspiring that these men could go to such lengths to help France when not being treated as equals to the French, even though they were to consider France their homeland. This was based on true events that happened. It was filmed to deal with the war experience of the men as individuals as opposed to just a fighting war movie that makes people seem anonymous. There were gruesome parts but true to any movie of war. It portrayed these men as heroic and very human. Unappreciated by the French even years later when pensions were withheld. It was very touching without being sentimental.