| | | The True Story of the Heroes that Changed the Course of History.
Features: DVD, Widescreen, English, Spanish, Subtitled
The critically acclaimed and Oscar nominated war epic Days of Glory (Indigenes) is "a chronicle of courage and sacrifice...told with power, grace and feeling and brought alive by first-rate acting" (A.O. Scott, The New York Times). Telling the true story of a band of World War II soldiers who heroically fought their way across Europe while battling discrimination within their own ranks, the film was hailed for its "eloquent performances and potent action sequences" (Jan Stuart, Newsday). The Los Angeles Times' Kenneth Turan called it "a North African Saving Private Ryan, a taut, involving film that delivers all the things we look for in war movies."
"A splendid war movie. The combat sequences are harrowing -- all the more so for the director's spare, sharp-eyed style..." Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
"...a kind of a North African "Saving Private Ryan," a taut, involving film that delivers all the things we look for in war movies..." Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
"The ensemble cast shared the best-actor award at the 2006 Cannes film festival -- and rightly so." Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
"...leaves us feeling more connected not just with history but with what makes us human in the first place." Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com
"A movingly acted, terrifically old-fashioned World War II picture rethought as a post-colonial rebuke." Wesley Morris, Boston Globe
Editor's Note
There has never been a WWII film quite like Rachid Bouchareb's DAYS OF GLORY, which shows the "good war" through the eyes of four North African soldiers fighting for the French army during the German occupation. Though similar in both structure and tone to Steven Spielberg's SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, GLORY seeks recognition for soldiers who were treated as second-class citizens during their service and never given their due. Under the leadership of Sergeant Martinez (Bernard Blancan), a company of North African soldiers undergoes a series of skirmishes across Italy and France, preventing the advance of the Nazis. Uneducated Said (Jamel Debbouzel, AMELIE), who had few options outside of enlistment, acts as a virtual servant to Martinez. Yassir (Samy Naceri) and his brother, Larbi (Assad Bouab), also come from poverty and--though they joined for selfish reasons--are fierce fighters. Messaoud (Roschdy Zem) is strong and silent, and has deadly aim with a rifle. Abdelkader (Sami Bouajila), however, is the ambitious one, unafraid to speak up when he and his company encounter prejudice, yet ever hopeful that he will be recognized for his achievements and be given the same liberty, equality, and fraternity as those who were born French. Through a series of bloody and spectacular battles with the Germans, these men risk their lives, never knowing what they will have at the end of it all.DAYS OF GLORY packs all the punch of a great war film---thrilling and heartbreaking battles, humor, and the loss of people we grow to care for. Bouchareb fearlessly uses a time-honored genre to address an elephant in the French living room: we are told at the film's conclusion that, in 1952, France voted to cease pension payments to soldiers from countries no longer under French rule. In 2006, following a screening of this film, Jacques Chirac reinstituted their pensions.
| Features | Audio: French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection | | Subtitles: English, Spanish |
| Technical Info
|
Release Information
| | Studio: GENIUS PRODUCTS, INC |
| Release Date: 2/5/2008 |
| Running Time: 125 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2006 | | Catalog ID: 80242 | | UPC: 00796019802420 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: French | | Available Audio Tracks: French | | Available Subtitles: English, Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Widescreen 2.35:1 |
| Cast & Crew | Jamel Debbouze | | Mathieu Simonet | | Roschdy Zem | | Samy Naceri | | Alexandre Lippens - Producer | | Armand Amar - Original Music By | | Cheb Khaled - Original Music By | | Dominique Douret - Production Designer | | Muriel Merlin - Executive Producer | | Olivier Lorelle - Writer | | Patrick Blossier - Cinematographer | | Rachid Bouchareb - Director | | Rachid Bouchareb - Writer | | Yannick Kergoat - Editor |
| Awards |
Nominee (2007) | | | Image Award, Days of Glory (Indigenes), Outstanding Independent or Foreign Film | | | Independent Spirit, Rachid Bouchareb, Best Foreign Film | | | Oscar, Days of Glory (Indigenes), Best Foreign Language Film of the Year | |
Winner (2006) | | | Cannes Film Festival, Jamel Debbouze, et. al., Best Actor | | | Cannes Film Festival, Rachid Bouchareb, Francois Chalais Award | |
Nominee (2006) | | | Cannes Film Festival, Rachid Bouchareb, Golden Palm Award |
|
| | Professional Reviews | Entertainment Weekly
"Rachid Bouchareb's great, important drama about North African soldiers fighting for France in World War II has the contours of a traditional 1940s war pic..." -- Grade: A 12/22/2006 p.61Entertainment Weekly
Included in Entertainment Weekly's "Top 10 Films Of The Year" -- "[An] engrossing, marvelously composed picture..." 12/29/2006 p.105 Rolling Stone
3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[Bouchareb] knows these racial tensions are still simmering. And in this wallop of a war movie he makes you feel the heat." 03/08/2007 p.96 Total Film
4 stars out of 5 -- "A poignant drama that will jolt you into a state of righteous indignation..." 05/01/2007 p.40 Sight and Sound
"A passionate, historically important film....[Debbouze is] extremely affecting here..." 04/01/2007 p.53 USA Today
3.5 stars out of 5 -- "Note the effective dramatic rhythm between grim violence and peaceful byways, before a kicker that's in some ways the most powerful moment of all." 06/15/2007 p.7E Variety 8 of 10
France's baldly discriminatory attitude toward the North Africans who fought on her behalf in WWII finally gets brought to the screen in Rachid Bouchareb's emotionally charged though predictable war flick "Days of Glory." Big budgeted ($16 million) multi-national production downplays its epic scale with a nicely-tuned ensemble that concentrates on personalities rather than battles, highlighting the contribution these men made despite treatment as second-class soldiers. Similar in this way to Edward Zwick's "Glory," pic's screenplay embraces too many standard-issue themes of injustice, but committed perfs and strong widescreen lensing carry the message with a righteous, if heavy weight...Location work in the North African mountains is particularly strong, and the sound department deserves praise for understanding the modulations required between battles and more intimate scenes. - Jay Weissberg
Rolling Stone 9 of 10
Algeria's pick in the Oscar race for Best Foreign-Language film is a wounding indictment of discrimination in the trenches. Indigenes (the French title, meaning "Natives") is set during the last years of World War II. Equality and fraternity fell by the wayside when it came to the North African soldiers who joined France in fighting the Nazis through Italy and Provence...Director and co-writer Rachid Bouchareb, born in Paris to Algerian immigrants, knows these racial tensions are still simmering. And in this wallop of a war movie he makes you feel the heat. The superb cast, including Sami Bouajila, Jamel Debbouze, Roshdy Zem, Samy Naceri and Bernard Blancan, who plays their sergeant, shared the Best Actor prize in Cannes. The tribute is apt and inspiring. And there's more icing on the cake. Bouchareb's film helped shame the French government into raising pensions for more than 80,000 of these veterans. Here's that rare movie that really did change things. I'll be damned. - Peter Travers
|
| |
|
|
|
