Days of Glory
Short description
Days of Glory is a 2006 war drama set in 1943, as France fights to free itself from Nazi occupation. Four Algerian men, Saïd, Abdelkader, Messaoud and Yassir, enlist in the French Army even though they have never set foot in France. Their motives differ, ranging from a search for money and adventure to a belief in liberty and equality, but they share the same cause and the same front line. Alongside them serve many thousands of other soldiers recruited in the colonies. The film follows the men through campaigns in Italy and southern France and into Alsace, while they also face discrimination and humiliation from their own officers and comrades, who treat the North Africans as second-class fighters. Their hope is not only to liberate Europe but to win recognition and fair treatment.
Rachid Bouchareb directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Olivier Lorelle, and Jean Bréhat produced. The cast includes Jamel Debbouze, Samy Naceri, Roschdy Zem, Sami Bouajila, Bernard Blancan and Mathieu Simonet. The film sits between Bouchareb's debut Cheb (1991) and Belleville Cop (2018) in his filmography. Made for a budget of around 15 million dollars, it took about 23 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds a rating of 7 out of 10 from around 16,000 votes, and on TMDB a rating of 6.7 out of 10 from more than 400 votes.
What's left behind the scenes
- Before filming, the actors involved in the film were unaware of the discrimination against foreign soldiers in the French army during World War II.
- Actor Jamel Debbouze's right arm is paralyzed as a result of an accident, but this fact is completely disregarded in the film. His character walks around with a weapon he cannot fire.
- At one point, one of the soldiers refers to soldiers of European origin from North Africa as “pieds-noirs,” or “black feet” (a term for Algerians of European descent who made up a significant part of the population of Algeria during the period of French colonial expansion). In reality, this term did not come into use with this meaning until the mid-1950s.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
