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Days of Glory
IFC Films / The Weinstein Company


7.6

based on 25 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 11 votes
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MPAA RATING: R for war violence and brief language

Starring Jamel Debbouze, Samy Naceri, Roschdy Zem, Sami Bouajila, Bernard Blancan, Mathieu Simonet, Benoît Giros, and Mélanie Laurent

1943. The young North Africans had never stepped foot on French soil but because France was at war, Said, Abdelkader, Messaoud and Yassir enlisted in the French Army, along with 130,000 other "indigenous soldiers," to liberate the "fatherland" from the Nazi enemy. These heroes that history forgot won battles in Italy, Provence and the Vosges before finding themselves alone to defend an Alsatian village against a German battalion. (The Weinstein Company)

GENRE(S):	Foreign \| War
WRITTEN BY:	Rachid Bouchareb Olivier Lorelle
DIRECTED BY:	Rachid Bouchareb
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: June 12, 2007 Theatrical: December 6, 2006
RUNNING TIME:	123 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	France / Morocco / Algeria / Belgium
LANGUAGE(S):	French / Arabic (with English subtitles)

Original title "Indigènes"; Best Actor (to male ensemble cast), 2006 Cannes Film Festival

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

A splendid war movie. The combat sequences are harrowing -- all the more so for the director's spare, sharp-eyed style -- and the performances are phenomenally fine.

100

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

This is a supreme example of how a filmmaker can make a work of fiction based on fact that, without didacticism or heavy-handed moralizing, leaves us feeling more connected not just with history but with what makes us human in the first place.

100

TV Guide Ken Fox

On the list of WWII stories criminally ignored by six decades of combat movies in the past 60 years, the heroics of French colonial soldiers ranks pretty high. But Rachid Bouchareb's powerful drama -- which won the 2006 Cannes Film Festival's best-actors award for its superb ensemble cast and was nominated for a best foreign-language-film Oscar, went a long way toward rectifying the situation, both on screen and in real life.

100

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

The ensemble cast shared the best-actor award at the 2006 Cannes film festival -- and rightly so.

New York Magazine David Edelstein

Indigènes is a stupendous work--and why that new title stinks to heaven.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

As directed by Rachid Bouchareb, himself born in France to Algerian immigrants, "Days of Glory" is a kind of a North African "Saving Private Ryan," a taut, involving film that delivers all the things we look for in war movies and does so with intelligence and integrity.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

Its social impact is part of what makes this movie memorable. But as with almost any exceptional, truthful war picture, Days of Glory moves us because we know the soldiers -- because we share their fear, triumph and pain.

USA Today Claudia Puig

Not only a stirring history lesson and an action-packed war film, Glory is also a ferocious statement about enduring discrimination that resounds today.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

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.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

A movingly acted, terrifically old-fashioned World War II picture rethought as a post-colonial rebuke.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

An unusually engrossing World War II epic.

Empire Dan Jolin

A war film more of sober, grim reflection than balls-out escapades. Yet it grips consistently, its bursts of combat delivering gut-punches of veracity.

Slate Dana Stevens

The performances are so passionate and the characters (even minor ones) so deftly sketched that it's impossible not to get swept up. You watch the battle scenes from behind your hands, just praying that these guys make it.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

With strong visuals and even stronger emotions, Rachid Bouchareb's Days of Glory makes a powerful war film about a particularly unique subject.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

It is a chronicle of courage and sacrifice, of danger and solidarity, of heroism and futility, told with power, grace and feeling and brought alive by first-rate acting. A damn good war movie.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

Days Of Glory isn't subtle in its exploration of the racial politics of warfare, but its grim, cynical portrayal of young men considered worthy enough to die for a foreign country, yet unworthy of being treated as equals, proves bluntly powerful.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Conventional, but intensely passionate, war movie.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

The battle scenes and a few of the human vignettes are powerful, but too often the film falls back on conventional plot mechanics.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

In recounting this conflicted tale, director Rachid Bouchareb displays some valour of his own, resisting what must have been a strong temptation to deal in aggrieved agitprop, and instead, quietly but powerfully, confining his attentions to a small group of indigenous soldiers.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

The notions of sacrifice, patriotism, race and self-identity are compellingly questioned, and the battle sequences are realized with stirring intensity.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

Is there anything new here? Honestly, not really. The content is the same, the plot the familiar litany of ordeals leavened by soapy interludes. But the fight that develops is taut, tough and extremely bitter; it's never showy in the grinding, big-movie Spielbergian way, but a portrait of the war's daily interface with hell in a very small space, as the four stand against a much larger unit.

Variety Jay Weissberg

Committed performances and strong widescreen lensing carry the message with a righteous, if heavy weight.

Village Voice Ella Taylor

Days of Glory is as moving as it is ingenuous, with each doomed character symbolizing a different response to the collective dilemma these men face as Arabs with divided loyalties.

New York Post V.A. Musetto

Days of Glory has good intentions and a well-executed combat scene, but it could do with more originality.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

The story here isn't much, and the truth it reveals, to them and us, isn't earthshaking, just quiet and somber.

The average user rating for this movie is 7.6 (out of 10) based on 11 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Peter F. gave it a10:
Brilliant on just about all fronts. Easy to follow, simple with an important aim. Essential viewing.

Sal P. gave it a9:
Top of its kind! Very moving.

Paul K. gave it a9:
It takes awhile for this to get going and it reminded me quite a bit of letters from Iwo Jima...same basic set up/similar premise. The end sequence is worth it for sure. Catch it on video, at the very least.

Gene E. gave it a3:
If it this film came out of Hollywood, and were in English, its cliche-ridden scenes would probably glean tepid reviews. Put it in subtitles, and then burnish it with a noble theme, and the critics manage to persuade themselves they weren't bored.

Sam J. gave it a10:
I saw this at the Angelika during its one-week qualifying run. Despite the rodents that were scampering around on the center rug of the underground multi-plex's Theatre #2 (subways are within a few feet of the theatres and can always be heard), I found this co French/Algerian war film as truly great.

Elliot Z. gave it a7:
I didn't know what to expect from "Days of Glory," but the end result surprised me. With the exception of some annoyingly arrogant characters, "Days of Glory" refreshes as a different take on the World War II film genre. Defeating the Nazis only serves as a backstory, for the real story focuses on the problems of inequality and the vague meanings of justice. "Days of Glory" will not appeal to everyone, but those who give this film a chance will be pleasantly surprised.

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Days of Glory IFC Films / The Weinstein Company

Days of Glory
IFC Films / The Weinstein Company