Days of GloryFollow

Has got to be the worst title ever chosen for a film.

But the film itself, called "Les Indigenes" (The Indigenous in french), is absolutely brilliant.

It's a French film about the Second World War, and the role that people from the colonies played in it. These people that weren't French, whose grand-parents had been killed by the French in colonial wars, and who had never even been to France. They made up half of the French army in 1944, roughly 300,000.

The film follows four young guys from North Africa that enlisted in the French army, for various reasons, and follows them during the invasion of South of France and Italy in 1944. These people, who were used as cannon-fodder, were not granted French citizenship. Not only that, but their role in the war was never recognised. Not only that, but when their country of origin got indepedence (1959), their war pensions were frozen (meaning the wages stoped following inflation), even if they lived in France.

In 1991, the Conseil d'Etat (our Supreme Court), ruled that this was illegal, and that the French government should pay these people exactly the same as "French" soldiers, and that the government should pay up everything it owed them, including the money they would've had had the pensions not been "frozen". And, of course, no government did it.

Until this film.

So, it's doubly "historic".

The film itself is amazing, and I won't spoil it by saying what happens. But if you have the faintest interest in WWII, in racism, in war, in immigration, or in the situation in the US today, where members of ethnic minorities form the the majority of the infantry, it is well worth seeing.

300, it ain't.



Edited, Apr 2nd 2007 12:56pm by RedPhoenixxx

Man, you're chirpy today...

It's "about WW2" as much as its "about people". It doesn't deal with Dunkirk, it doesn't deal with D-day, you don't see any camps, no Hitler, no De Gaulle, no Jews.

It's about a generation of fighters that was wiped from the history books because they weren't white.

It's a fUcking great film, and excuse my presumption, but I'm sure you'd enjoy it.

haha, just today? He'd hate it because he hates black people.

Nexa

I'm sure it'll show up in my Netflix suggestion.

You tell it you liked a couple French films and it suddenly has every foreign film on the planet in your recommendations.

"Hey! You liked White, so you're SURE to love this Syrian-made documentary about the Congolese cobolt mining industry!"

I ssaw this French Erotic Film a few years ago, it had a catchy tune.

Are you telling me that there's no 9-foot tall Rodrigo Santoro in it? I'm out then.

Nexa

No, but there's a 5-foot tall, one-armed Jamel Debouzze.

Almost the same...

Hmm, no, no I do not think so.

Nexa

Well no, it's not, but it's just come out in the cinemas, whereas I assume everyone on this board has seen both of those classic movies.

Yeah, I imagine there are maybe two other posters who've seen both. On a good day.

Perhaps I underestimate the erudition of the board members, but after seeing how many people didn't know who Abby Hoffman was, I'm thinking New Wave cinema probably scores on the leisure activity list right after chainsaw juggling.

I'd be happy to be wrong.

Since we're speaking of movies.

Blood Tea and Red String.

Excellent if you enjoy movies from the aristocratic blood drinking mice draw their own playing cards after cutting a half bird half woman creature out of a doll genre.

If not, probably not worth watching.

And, take it from me, that kind of thing does tend to get bloody.

Maybe it was just media saturation and I knew exactly what to expect but, meh. Didn't do anything for me.


Come on, the yard sale scene alone is worth watching the whole movie for.

It only sounds preposterous to you because you don't watch novelas.