Days of Glory

With the amount of WWII movies out there already, it may seem to many that Days of Glory has arrived too late. In some respects that's right, as a feeling occasionally arises that you have already seen this film - which features an account of a small band of brothers coming to France to fight the Germans. What's different is that these are North Africans who - having been asked to protect the Motherland - begin to doubt their reasons for doing so. Angel-A's Jamel Debbouze (who co-produced) and the Taxi tetralogy's Samy Naceri get to play more than the 2D characters they've been given in the past, and the film's steady character development leads to a fateful and visceral last stand. Raising awareness of North Africa's overlooked contribution to France, it further reveals that those "indigenes" who defended the nation are still waiting for their pension from the government - too late for many. [Alec McLeod]