Indigènes / Days of Glory

I just had to post this.

This movie was one of the best war movies for 2006. It portrays the sacrifice made by Muslim and non-Muslim North and West African troops during WWII. They fought for France, which was still their colonial masters during that point of time, but they too struggled with racism, inequality and just plain bad luck.

In the movie, it focuses on the relationships between a group of Algerian soldiers, Said, Yassir, Messaoud and Abdelkader. Not forgetting, their Sergeant, Roger Martinez, who is probably part Moroccan. It is an eye-opener to see how these tirailleurs behaved in their day-to-day affairs while serving the French Army.

Kudos to Rachid Bouchareb for directing this movie that literally pushed France to finally pay up the pension that has been owed to African and Asian veterans of WWII, soldiers who fought for France, but were treated unfairly when their countries decided to be free of France's colonial yoke after the war.

So many died in the political upheavals that followed the war but this is not portrayed in the movie. Nonetheless, it is a good watch, well worth the money, for someone who can appreciate a historical-based film.