ALLAN HUNTER at the Movies

IF YOU THINK there is nothing left to add to the legacy of great films on the Second World War, then ‘Days Of Glory’ (12A) will make you think again. This is a film that can stand alongside Steven Spielberg’s ‘Saving Private Ryan’ (1998) or Sam Fuller’s ‘The Big Red One’ (1980).

It sheds fresh light on the bravery of the North African troops who fought for France and faced another battle to overcome the prejudice that they encountered.

It is a stirring tale of individual courage and the kind of patriotic pride that overcomes all obstacles. On one level, ‘Days of Glory’ is a fairly conventional story of a group of disparate men from Algeria, Morocco and other French colonies, and the way they were forged into a single fighting unit.

Jamel Debbouze is naive, country lad Said. Roschdy Zem is skilled marksman Messaoud. Sami Necri is Yassir and Sami Bouajila is Abdelkader, a corporal and model soldier who would soon rise through the ranks if only he were French.

All of them respond to the call to arms issued by Charles De Gaulle, with one of them claiming: “It’s my country even if I have never been there.”

As they learn the skills of a professional soldier, they also come to realise that they will always be considered second-class citizens; promotion is denied them, letters are censored, leave is never granted and valour goes unrewarded.

The level of their sacrifice becomes increasingly heroic when we know how they were treated, and the film works as both a valuable history lesson and a moving saga of injustice. In France, the film has forced the government to acknowledge the shabby behaviour of the past. It is well worth seeing.

Selected Nationwide release

Director: Rachid Bouchareb
Stars: Jamel Debbouze, Samy Naceri, Roschdy Zem, Sami Bouajila.
Screenwriters: Olivier Loreille, Rachid Bouchareb
Certificate: 12A
Running time: 124 mins
Country: France/Belgium/Morocco/Algeria
Year: 2006

© Allan Hunter, 2007