Paul Allaer "Glory Days" (2006 release from France/Morocco/Belgium; original title "Indigènes" (The Indigenous); 120 min.) brings the story of a band of North Africans fighting to liberate France. As the movie opens, we are told it is "Algeria - 1943" and we see a Muslim recruiter shouting "We must liberate France", to the enthusiastic reaction of the crowd. Next we switch to "Morocco - 1943", where a group of men is training to get battle ready. We then go to "Italy - 1944", where these North Africans encounter their first meaningful action against the Germans. At this point we're not even 15 minutes into the movie but to tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.Couple of comments: first, this is a solid war drama with some serious social undercurrents. The battle scenes are intense and realistic (even if the choice of tanks and guns may not always be 100% accurate according to history). Also, the historical significance of what these men accomplished cannot but denied. This is even more the case when you consider the social environment of these North African Muslims: the French discriminate openly and without scruples (as this was the accepted norm 70+ years ago), and don't hide their disdain towards them. Contrast this to the almost naïve love for "the motherland" (i.e. France), even though none of them has ever been there until the French shipped them there to fight the Nazis. It just makes you wonder why the North Africans felt that way. The movie features a bunch of no-names (for me anyway), who bring mostly heartfelt performances."Glory Days" scored an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language movie in 2007, and it is easy to see why: engaging war drama, with important underlying social issues. I recently stumbled upon this movie while browsing the foreign language section at my local library. So glad I picked this up. "Glory Days" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

paul2001sw-1 'Indigenes' tells the story of Algerians who fought for France in world war two. A complicated racial hierarchy existed: French-born, Algerian-born French, Arabs, and black Africans: the film concentrates on Arab characters, but gives a conveys a strong sense of the unity and divisions among these groups. But aside from this, it's also simply one of the best war films ever made, conveying brilliantly the utter hell of battle, and painting a portrait of World War Two that often invokes thoughts of World War One far more than it does blitzkrieg, as soldiers literally march across France and fight in the most squalid of conditions. Bernard Blancan is superb as a sergeant in denial of his own identity; but the whole cast is strong. My only quibble is with the English language title: 'Days of Glory' seems a strange title for a film that more recalls the sentiments of Wilfred Owen than of Hollywood.

Jim I enjoyed the film and I probably would have given it a rating of 8 except for one thing. By the time the halfway point of the movie was reached, I couldn't help but notice that the actor playing Saïd (Jamel Debbouze) always had his right hand in his pocket. Since I was watching it on DVD, I of course had to stop and look him up on IMDb. After finding out that he had no right hand, I was then very distracted through the remainder of the film.I saw that he was a co-producer of the film. I question his judgment of not wearing a prosthetic hand in many of the scenes. Much of the movie took place in cold weather and they were all wearing gloves. Also, in the final scenes, he was the only one in the fire fight using only a hand gun, which looked odd. I just think that having your hand constantly in your pocket is not the best way to disguise this handicap.Harold LLoyd wore a prosthetic glove in many movies after his unfortunate accident when he lost his thumb and forefinger. I'm sure if he walked around with his hand in his pocket all of the time, people would have noticed.

Neil Turner The English title of this film is very much a misnomer. There is no glory - just heartbreak - in this story of natives of North Africa who were recruited by the French army to help liberate France during the Second World War. It is a grim tale of men who sacrificed their all in support of a nation that had colonized their homeland. Their goal was to prove that they were true citizens of France, but they were treated as second-class citizens throughout the war and after.The story follows the lives of four men from various backgrounds from an uneducated shepherd to an intellectual. They each volunteered to serve for different personal reasons, but were all torn asunder by the rampant prejudice of their races and religions.Indigènes is certainly an interesting and well-produced film, but I think it suffers a bit because the audience is not given much insight into the backgrounds of the four main characters. As a foreigner, I would have liked to know more about from whence they came. One of the ironies of these men is that they were as much strangers to each other as they were to the French soldiers, because they came from such diverse areas and backgrounds. There is little of that sitting around talking about home that gives insight into the former lives of soldiers that you usually see in films of this type of film. Because of the tribe-like nature of their native land, these soldiers have nothing in common except their contemptible treatment by the French soldiers and officers.What this film does offer is an insightful look at yet another injustice of history, and anything that brings to the fore an examination and evaluation of prejudice and its results is certainly worthwhile.