Days of Glory film review

Review

Cast & crew

Days of Glory

(2006)

Rachid Bouchareb's Days of Glory is a film about war and outsiders in which the outsiders, for once, are fighting for the winning side. It begins in 1943 and introduces us to a small team of North African soldiers whose lives will be changed by the Second World War. Not only do they face death in the gunsights of the Nazis, but they struggle to gain the respect of a French army that despises them while both needing and expecting their loyalty. The story and style are relatively simple, and the film evokes Saving Private Ryan in more ways than one. The camaraderie of the men is believable, thanks to a superb ensemble cast headed by comedian Jamel Debbouze, who here gives a serious performance rich with pathos and dignity. Perhaps due to Bouchareb's own experiences as the son of Algerian immigrants, this is a complex and affecting movie that handles a thorny subject with sensitivity rather than militaristic bombast. DW

Contains swearing, some violence.

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Running time

118min

Country of origin

Fr / Bel / Mor / Alg

Genre

Second World War Drama

Alternate title

Indigenes

Original language

French

Screenplay

Rachid Bouchareb, Olivier Lorelle

Theatrical distributor

Metrodome

UK cinema certificate

12A

UK cinema release date

March 2007

Subtitling information

In French with subtitles




awards information


	Award	Category	Name	Nominee/Winner

	Academy 2006	Foreign Language Film		Nominee
	Cannes International Film Festival 2006	Actor	Jamel Debbouze	Winner
	Cannes International Film Festival 2006	Actor	Samy Naceri	Winner
	Cannes International Film Festival 2006	Actor	Roschdy Zem	Winner
	Cannes International Film Festival 2006	Actor	Sami Bouajila	Winner
	Cannes International Film Festival 2006	Actor	Bernard Blancan	Winner