Indigènes (2006)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Rachid Bouchareb

Writers:

Rachid Bouchareb (writer)
Olivier Lorelle (writer)

Release Date:

27 September 2006 (France)

Genre:

Action | Drama | War

Tagline:

The true story of World War II's forgotten heroes

Plot:

During WWII, four North African men enlist in the French army to liberate that country from Nazi oppression, and to fight French discrimination.

Plot Keywords:

Soldier | France | Italy | French Soldier | Army

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 6 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Jamel Debbouze	...	Saïd Otmari
Samy Naceri	...	Yassir
Roschdy Zem	...	Messaoud Souni
Sami Bouajila	...	Abdelkader
Bernard Blancan	...	Sergent Roger Martinez
Mathieu Simonet	...	Caporal Leroux
Assaad Bouab	...	Larbi
Benoît Giros	...	Capitaine Durieux
Mélanie Laurent	...	Margueritte village Vosges
Antoine Chappey	...	Le colonel
Aurélie Eltvedt	...	Irène
Thomas Langmann	...	Le journaliste
Thibault de Montalembert	...	Capitaine Martin
Dioucounda Koma	...	Touré (as Diouc Koma)
Philippe Beglia	...	Rambert

Also Known As:

Days of Glory (Singapore: English title) (USA)

MPAA:

Rated R for war violence and brief language.

Runtime:

USA:120 min | France:128 min | Canada:123 min (Ontario) | Canada:120 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | Argentina:128 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival)

Country:

Algeria | France | Morocco | Belgium

Language:

French | Arabic

Colour:

Black and White | Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Singapore:NC-16 | France:U | USA:R | Sweden:15 | Malaysia:18SG | Malaysia:U (cut) | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Ireland:12A | Argentina:13 | UK:12A | South Korea:12 | Australia:M | New Zealand:M

Filming Locations:

Agadir, Morocco

Company:

Tessalit Productions

Trivia:

The main actors, all of North African descent, did not know of France's discrimination towards foreign soldiers serving in the French army during World War 2 until filming began.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Military trucks used in the Italian front look like US M35 Vietnam era vehicles, WWII US trucks look very different.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 79th Annual Academy Awards (2007) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Le lac des cygnes

great film

indigenes is a WW2 epic - but it isn't just about the spectacle and destruction of war but about the human aspect of warfare.

Bouchareb has made a film that works on three different levels. On the one hand this is a films about comradeship, about men learning to work together as a team to overcome physical and mental hardship, and about survival. On the other it's about the forgotten soldiers of the second world war. France whitewashed the algerian army's support after Algeria declared independence from France, and it has become something of a scandal in recent years, one that the french government has now rectified on the back on this film.

On a much deeper level, and this is the reason I think the film is so important, it's about the arab world and the western world uniting against a common evil. And I think that, given the chaos and the paranoia that we live in now regarding the East and the Arab world, Indigenes' message is a powerful polemic that west and east can live and work together and that we have in the past been a unified force, and can still be - despite recent events.