Days of Glory (2006)

World War II was the worst war ever seen on this planet. We all hear of the Blitzkreig in the skies of Britain, Nazi marches throughout the streets of Germany, and even American soldiers trekking through the jungles of the Pacific Islands. Yet do we ever hear of the war in North Africa? Colony soldiers fighting for the French against Italian soldiers in the desert heats? Well, have you heard? ...Oh, it seems you haven't. Well, this film is definitely a good way to teach you all about it, excluding the under-12's. During World War II, the Italians (who were on the Axis side, by the way) thought it a jolly good idea to go out and conquer most of North Africa. The good old French, who owned a good deal of colonies in the North, didn't particularly fancy this idea. Did they take it lying down? Of course they didn't! But still, it wasn't considered as important as the war in Europe, and that's why the French didn't fancy getting their hands dirty. They naturally got the native soldiers in their colonies to fight for them, while treating them as second class citizens. Yeah, big mistake. There are two sides to every coin, as there are to every film. For about a third of "Days of Glory", it's an adrenaline-pumping, explosive, shoot-out movie epic. On the other side (well, really two thirds) it's a touching epic, in its own way, that shows us the true plight of the North African colony soldiers, not only to liberate their "Motherland" from the German Nazi forces, but to gain recognition as the saviours of France during the later half of WW2. But many things stood in their way, and not just oppoisng forces, or natural forces. No, the biggest enemy is more closer to home than any of their other opponents. For the biggest enemy are the French soldiers themselves. Racist, sectarianist, discriminative... The Arab soldiers are in for a tough ride during the course of this film. Touching, moving, tear-jerking, exciting, explosive, epic... I could make this review into a list of fancy, flowery adjectives that really, only keep saying the exact same thing: how good this movie is. So, I'll cut back on the songs of praise to focus on another important matter: the balance of personal lives and high-octane action. The club I'm in was split: half (including myself) thought it was a perfectly written and performed film, which showed us in great detail the plight of the Arabs. The other half thought that it was too slow. Really? Some of the other films we've watched were even slower than this one, and no one (well, not a lot of people) were complaining then! Perhaps they have a point, though. If you're someone who gorges themselves on action and adventure, without any character development at all (making for a hollow film) then "Days of Glory" isn't really for you. However, don't let my ramblings put you off. It's certainly a brilliant film, although I forgot to mention that it's in French, so that may confuse you as well. However, for someone like myself, who loves films that are slow and character developing, this film hits all the right notes at all the right times. It flows just like a well-tuned violin in an orchestra symphony that functions like a well-oiled machine, so I think that this film deserves top marks. 5/5!