Days of Glory (2006)

Director: Rachid Bouchareb

Starring: Samy Naceri, Roschdy Zem, Sami Bouajila

During World War II, four North African men enlist in the French army to liberate that country from German oppression, and to fight French discrimination.

I enjoy war movies providing its a good story with compelling characters. I hate watching movies dealing with racism, or discrimination. ‘Days of Glory’ deals with discrimination against Muslims who fought among the French in World War 2. As a result, I did not enjoy this movie.

The film doesn’t waste any time before the action starts, but then they start throwing racist remarks around and discriminate against some of the soldiers, and soon enough it becomes clear why. In my opinion, we are all humans and therefore all equal. I don’t judge people on race, religion or colour, or whether you’re rich or poor. I judge people on their character and personality.

The discrimination referred to in the film happened nearly eight decades ago and is no longer relevant – or shouldn’t be – so I don’t understand while filmmakers still insist on telling these stories. Must the new generation really be reminded of these atrocities? Let sleeping dogs lie and move on.

Because of the subject matter of the film, I couldn’t relate and found it an unpleasant watch. It wasn’t engaging or memorable. On the contrary, I found the film slow and not all that interesting. Enough said.

‘Days of Glory’ received 25 award nominations, winning 9. It received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. Oh, whatever…

In French and Arabic

Would I watch it again? The answer is obvious: no.