My apologies for one of many delayed (and forgotten) postings. 

Days of Glory - Indignes (2006)

Directed by Rachid Bouchareb

Starring Jamel Debbouze (Boys on the Beach, Angel-A), Roschdy Zem (Alias Betty)

As a straight out war film Days of Glory comes a cropper, it has taken far too much influence from Saving Private Ryan and/or Band of Brothers, though some of its better aspects appear to have been influenced by Kubrick's similarly titled but far superior Paths of Glory.

Where it does work (albeit with the subtlety of a steam hammer) is as a political statement, illustrating how the North African troops were used as cannon fodder, how they were treated as lesser beings and how they were then discarded and left to rot once they had completed their duty for their so called 'mother land'.

Out of interest, Britain was just as guilty as France for doing this, especially with Indian and Burmese troops during WWII.

The actual history behind the story is far more interesting than the film but unfortunately, people need over emphasised dramatics rather than documented facts to grab their attention.

Realistically there were some terrible faults with the film, not least the German soldier firing the ofenrohr 'stovepipe' (bazooka style antitank weapon) at the wall of a house while within it, this 88mm projectile would have taken down the wall plus the rest of the house killing everyone including the Germans, and that's without mentioning the blowback from the charge.

I also found it hard to believe Jamel Debbouze's character, for one he's a light comedy actor, depth of emotion is certainly not his forte. Another far more obvious point is his right arm which he seriously injured as a youngster and appears to be pretty useless, you can get away with this in some films (Amelie or Angel-a for example) but in a war film, as a soldier constantly walking around with your hand tucked in your pocket even when carrying a rifle in the middle of a firefight! No, sorry he was definitely wrong for the role and was the major weak link in this film. 

I know he acted as co-producer but he should have taken a back seat or a minor part in this project rather than grabbing the central role.

You can't fault the good that the film has done for the surviving pensioners but I couldn't help thinking it should have been so much better.

As a war film C-.
As a political statement B+. 

Cheers Trev. 

BBFC rated 12a.