Days of Glory (Indigènes) (2006)

Outline: During the occupation of France in WWII, the French gathered up troops from French African colonies in order to free the "motherland." While their contributions helped the French make great advances, the African troops were treated as second class off the battlefield.

I was reluctant to review Flags of our Fathers because I didn't like it. I felt guilty for not liking something about the Greatest Generation. While it had its good points, it had next to no character development. I didn't really care what happen to those three guys nearly as much as I wanted to see what would happen to Barry Pepper and the others down on the beach. Adam Beach's histrionics back on safe ground? Nowhere near as compelling.

It is for the same reason that I feel guilty for not absolutely loving Days of Glory. Or, rather, not caring as much about some plot lines as I did for others. I feel like I should pay attention to an injustice being brought to light - one that finally mobilized the French government to take action - but I didn't care as much as I think I should have. I cared about Messaoud's (Roschdy Zem) romance with Irène (Aurélie Eltvedt), but the plot line didn't get much screen time. I wanted to care about whatever was going on with Saïd (Jamel Debbouze). Debbouze is a great actor, but either the script or the editor gave me absolutely no insight into the character. He's the first person we see enlist, but his reasons for doing so were murky at the time. They never really sharpen. By the time he's shoving Nazi propaganda into the holes in his boot, I found myself thinking, "That's a nice image" without being able to connect the dots. What does it mean?

Perhaps the most compelling plot was that of a pair of Nomadic herders, brothers who enlisted to raise enough money to marry the youngest off. Larbi (Assaad Bouab) was the more easily likable of the two, but Yassir's (Samy Naceri) steadfast devotion to his brother ultimately won my attention and my heart.

Aside from that, Patrick Blossier's cinematography was stellar. He did a great job of setting the scene.

I don't know, kids. It's a good movie and an even more important of history that we need to remember. I guess I was expecting a big old fashioned, epic sob-fest and found a quiet think-piece instead. B