Yes, Soldiers of France, in All but Name
This film review by A. O. Scott gave a film critique's perspective on "Days of Glory," while also providing insight into the historical information that the film included. Scott explains that the title of the film in French, "Indigenes," means "Natives" in English. By choosing this title for the film, the director (Bouchareb) shows the irony present on the French side of World War 2. Clearly the main characters in this film are not natives of France, yet they sacrifice even more than the true Frenchmen in most cases in order to achieve victory. Scott compliments Bouchareb on his ability to provide war drama to the viewer while still maintaining a genuine aspect of each of the character's lives and personalities. He describes the acting as "first rate," and admires how this film depicted the experiences of individuals who have been misrepresented as a whole in other popular war stories. The men from North Africa were expected to possess a patriotic duty to France, even though they are treated as second- class citizens throughout the film. Scott claims that France has had a goal of achieving universal aspirations of the people while still maintaining some sort of national identity. His belief is that the film shows how much these two ideas truly contradict with one another, leading to numerous confrontations between the North Africans and Frenchmen. The article repeatedly praised Bouchareb for his ability to present history through his characters and according to Scott, "make every shot count." Bouchareb's ability to depict aspects of war with a personal glimpse into each character's life is what makes this film so extraordinary.
Link to the article: http://movies.nytimes.com/2006/12/06/movies/06glor.html
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