DAYS OF GLORY (FRANCE/MOROCCO/ALGERIA/BELGIUM, 2006).
Wednesday, 31st October 2007

EVENING PERFORMANCE starts at 7.45 p.m.

France/Belgium/Morocco/Algeria, 2006. Directed by Rachid
Bouchareb from a screenplay by Olivier Lorelle and himself.
Photography (Colour/Scope): Patrick Blossier.
Music: Armand Amar and Khaled. Certificate: “12A”. Length: 124 minutes.
Leading Players: JAMEL DEBBOUZE (Saïd), SAMY NACERI (Yassir),
ROSCHDY ZEM (Messaoud), SAMI BOUAJILA (Abdelkader),
BERNARD BLANCAN (Sergeant Martinez), ASSAAD BOUAB
(Larbi), AURELIE ELTVEDT (Irène), MATHIEU SIMONET (Leroux),
ANTOINE CHAPPEY (Colonel)

This is not only a stunning film but one that has proved its importance by bringing about an element of social change. Nevertheless, this prize-winning work arrived here out of the blue in that few in this country had ever heard of the man responsible for it. He is Rachid Bouchareb, a director and writer who made four earlier films all of which won acclaim. In spite of that, it fell to “Days of Glory” to become the first of his works, one which he co-wrote with Olivier Lorelle, to gain a U. K. release. It ranks as one of the best films of recent times.

“Days of Glory” is set in the dark days of 1943 and 1944 and it reaches us at a time when a number of war films have appeared. Some of these have been tiresome macho adventure yarns, although to describe them in those terms gives away the fact that the genre of the war film is not one that appeals to me when presented as entertainment. However, it’s a totally different story when I’m asked to consider serious masterpieces on the subject ranging from the classic “All Quiet On The Western Front” to Clint Eastwood’s recent “Letters From Iwo Jima” which we screened in our spring mini season this year. What this new film and Eastwood’s two Iwo Jima pictures have in common is an honourable desire to recognise the courage and heroism that can come to the fore in war while also unequivocally condemning war by showing its barbarity and its futility. Such an aim may sound unlikely when applied to a film that bears the title “Days of Glory” but the fact is that the title is a bogus one. The true title of Bouchareb’s film is “Indigènes”, a term that can be translated as ‘natives’ and which was used by some French soldiers during the Second World war as a dismissive word to refer to those North African recruits who chose to fight for their mother-country, France. One can understand that this was not an easy title to translate, but it’s a pity that the English title adopted for convenience was not one that was more apposite.

“Days of Glory” is a co-production between France, Belgium, Morocco and Algeria and what spurred Bouchareb to make it was his sense of the injustice that has been done to those soldiers of the Second World War who came from the African continent. It’s hardly an exaggeration to say that these men are the forgotten soldiers of that time, and on one level this film is a tribute to them. To tell their story he has adopted the simple but effective device of following a group of such soldiers from their enlistment in Algeria and Morocco onwards. Thus we see their training which is soon followed by their participation in the advance up Italy bringing them eventually into the South of France. The incident that provides the climax of the film takes place there and is centred on their attempts to preserve a French village from the Germans as they make one last effort to retake it. This episode is taken directly from a real event but in other respects “Days of Glory” is fiction. By that I mean only that the characters are invented since this is a fiction that never falsifies and sets out to portray accurately the experiences of the North Africans who fought. That reality extends to the elements of racist discrimination that they encountered, ranging from expressions of personal hostility to the realisation that promotion was never likely to come their way.

The telling of a story that by implication speaks of the experiences of all such soldiers means that this is a film that calls for ensemble playing rather than highlighting one actor at the expense of another. Consequently, whereas one often queries a joint award, in this particular case it seemed right and just when at the Cannes Film Festival the award for best actor was given not to just one of the leading players but was shared between them. All of them are totally persuasive. The chief figures include four recruits: they are the Moroccan brothers Yassir (Samy Naceri) and Larbi (Assaad Bouab), Saïd (Jarmel Debbouze), a young man from an Algerian village and a soldier who becomes a marksman, Messaoud (Roschdy Zem). The other most significant figures are Corporal Abdelkader of the 7th Algerian Infantry Regiment (Sami Bouajila), a sergeant, Martinez (Bernard Blancan), who is anxious to hide the fact that he himself has Arab blood and the colonel played by Antoine Chappey who puts in a passing appearance. The only female role of any prominence is that of Irène (Aurélie Eltvedt), a French woman with whom Messaoud falls in love.

From the outset the visual quality of this film is clear. Each new location is neatly introduced by black and white aerial shots into which colour is then allowed to seep as the next stage of the saga unfolds. On the other hand it is probably true to say that the stature of the work is not immediately apparent. From the very beginning the reconstruction is admirably persuasive, but to start with it could be felt that the material, the training and the first experience of action, are over-familiar despite the African background. However, this is a film that steadily grows in impact as we come to know the main characters as individuals and to feel concern for them and for their likely fate. Since the opening finds Saïd being introduced to us in a scene in which his mother is begging him not to go to fight, he could be regarded as the figure we would expect to be most central to the tale and consequently the hero who will survive. But, as the film proceeds, the story gives equal prominence to Abdelkader, Messaoud and Yassir. In any case there is sufficient realism here for us to feel that it is quite possible that none of these people will survive.

Building on what has gone before, the last half hour of “Days of Glory” is a tour de force centred on the role played by the protagonists by then in Provence as they attempt to hold on to a village in the Vosges that could once again fall into German hands. These scenes have such power and convey such a tragic impact that it almost seems in poor taste to make comparisons with other more fictional films. Nevertheless as a tribute to the film-makers it has to be said that in terms of staging, clarity and tension these episodes are as magnificently choreographed and filmed as anything of the kind I have ever seen. Your heart is truly in your mouth at this point. But what is even more surprising (save perhaps for those in the know) is the fact that this is then topped by the coda and in particular by the written statement that concludes the film. It would inappropriate to reveal what this is save to say that thanks to this film the wrong described has been tackled if not fully righted. It’s an unforgettable ending to a remarkable film.

Filmography (Title underlined shown by the EFS):
Baton Rouge (1985); Poussières de Vie (Dust of Life) (1994); Little Senegal (2001); Days of Glory (Indigènes) (2006).


“Outstanding. The most powerful war film of the year.” – The Times.

**** Evening Standard. “Truly excellent” – Empire. **** SundayTelegraph.

“A cracking tale… a terrifically tense and upsetting finale” – Daily Telegraph.

Programme notes by Mansel Stimpson.