Days of Glory

12A, 120 mins

Days of Glory is a title that does not do justice to Rachid Bouchareb’s outstanding Second World War drama. It makes it sound like something that might have been scripted by Alistair Maclean, a rousing, ripping yarn in which good and bad are clearly delineated. The French title Indigènes (which translates as “natives”), with its slightly pejorative air of Gallic disdain, is more appropriate, hinting at the complex issues raised by this impassioned, intelligent film.

Days of Glory tells of a forgotten army: the North African soldiers from former French colonies who took up arms to defend a country that most had never seen. Their motives for doing so are varied but all are unified by a sense of duty and a pride in their part in freeing France from the Nazis. However what really unites the men – and also begins to tear them apart – is the fact that despite the risk to each being equal on the battlefield, in the mess hall they are treated as second-class citizens.

It’s a disparity that starts with a disagreement over the allocation of tomatoes and extends through to the present day when, until recently, pensions for France’s colonial veterans had been frozen at 1959 levels.

Occasionally it’s a little didactic. A Moroccan Berber soldier asks the rhetorical question of his brother: “When the French slaughtered our family, what did they call it?” “Pacification,” is the reply. But for the most part, Bouchareb’s film carries its message with dignity and a restraint that never dominates the storytelling. The result is the most powerful war film of the year.

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