Monday, October 1, 2007

Days of Glory (2006)

Director Rachid Bouchareb teams with screenwriter Olivier Morelle to offer a revealing look at the brave contributions made by North African soldiers who fought for France during World War II in this emotionally-charged war drama starring Jamel Debbouze, Samy Naceri, Sami Bouajila, and Bernard Blancan. The year was 1943 and France had been bending to the will of Nazi Germany for three long years. In order to break Hitler's powerful grip, the first French Army was recruited in Africa. Comprised of 130,000 North Africans who were willing to put their lives on the line in order to defeat the Nazi death machine, the fearless fighters were contemptuously dubbed indigènes (natives) by many French, despite their remarkable sacrifice. From the noble Abdelkader (Bouajila), who is fighting strictly for the cause; to the money motivated Yassir (Naceri); the impoverished Saïd (Debbouze); and die-hard romantic Messaoud (Roschdy Zem), who longs to finally visit the country he has dreamt about from afar, the selfless efforts of these remarkable men ultimately transcend their superiors' contemptuous disregard for their service by providing invaluable aid during one of the world's darkest hours. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Running Time: 119 mins
Days of Glory (2006)
For most of the movie, both sides of the war seemed very inept at fighting the war. Some of the battles just like most wars shows the senseless loss of human life for just some hill. Their was a tension that brewed throughout the movie about the racism of the French and Italians to the North African men. But the fight for the small town was interesting how the 4 North Africans had held off a couple of squads of Germans with two waves of attacks. The NAs had one sharp shooter, a rifle man, one machine gunner (did the most killing) and a one armed man with a hand gun. Won't say how it ends though...

No comments: