Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.0

Days of Glory Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 7, 2011

Nominated for Palme d'Or and winner of Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Rachid Bouchareb's "Indigenes" a.k.a "Days of Glory" (2006) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Canadian distributors Alliance. Unfortunately, there are no supplemental features to be found on the disc. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Under fire

Algeria 1943. 233,000 North Africans are mobilized to reinforce the French Army. Fierce battles are fought from Tunisia to Italy. Saïd (Jamel Debbouze, Amelie, Angel-A), an illiterate and poor peasant, Messaoud (Roschdy Zem, Le petit lieutenant, London River), at times cocky but likable character, Yassir (Samy Naceri, Taxi, The Nest), a charismatic but fixated on money mercenary, and Abdelkader (Sami Bouajila, The Adventures of Felix), a well-educated but openly critical of the French military elite patriot, have enlisted as indigènes (natives) to fight the Germans. All of them are under the command of Sgt. Martinez (Bernard Blancan, Leaving), an honest man with a sharp tongue.

The French army is gaining on the German forces, but the ill-trained Algerians are dying like flies. Some of them are disgusted that their commanders are indifferent. Tensions are running high and the Algerians are routinely asked to stay away from the French.

The war comes to an end. The French soldiers return home and many of them are treated as heroes. The Algerians who have arrived in France are not. As the civilian population celebrates, some of the Algerians clash with the French.

Equality, racism, and honor are the key themes in Rachid Bouchareb’s impressively-composed war drama Days of Glory. Some critics have tagged it “the North-African Saving Private Ryan”, but aside from some stylistic similarities the two films could not be any more different.

Obviously, the political overtones Days of Glory carries would certainly resonate better with those familiar with the racial tensions that have bothered metropolitan areas in France during the last ten years, but the universal message about acceptance and respect the film leaves behind should be easy to detect regardless of whether one is familiar with the social climate in contemporary France. However, like Florent Emilio Siri’s L’ennemi intime and Laurent Herbiet’s Mon Colonel, Bouchareb’s Days of Glory is a product of the frustration and pain immigrants from France’s former colonies have had to endure for years.

Days of Glory certainly has the look and feel of a large and very expensive epic picture. Cinematographer Patrick Blossier (Mon Colonel) does a terrific job of allowing the viewer to witness the spectacular rugged terrain of the Algerian battlefields where the French and German armies clash. Particularly during the first half of Days of Glory there is an abundance of powerful scenes where the essence of war is captured marvelously.

The action is graphic but it is not overdone. Brutality isn’t the focal point in any of the large battle scenes, though precisely during such scenes a tendency to imitate the flashy rawness Hollywood war films have been promoting as of late is easy to detect. As a result, occasionally Days of Glory loses its intimate tone and begins to stutter. Still, even with the numerous flashbacks the script introduces the tempo of the story remains largely consistent.

The film’s finale is incredibly powerful. Some North American viewers may see it as being clichéd, but given the type of response Days of Glory earned from former President Jacques Chirac, it was undoubtedly justified.

Days of Glory Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Rachid Bouchareb's Indigenes a.k.a Days of Glory arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Canadian distributors Alliance.

This is a solid high-definition transfer that looks very similar to the one Metrodome Video used for their Blu-ray release of Indigenes in the United Kingdom. The daylight scenes, for instance, look incredibly well detailed and crisp, while the nighttime footage conveys very pleasing clarity. Color reproduction is outstanding - the prominent light bluish tint looks beautiful; the yellows and grays also look rich and well saturated. Edge-enhancement is not an issue of concern; neither is macroblocking. I also did not see any traces of heavy noise reduction or annoying compression artifacts to report. Furthermore, blown through a digital projector Indigenes conveys wonderful depth and tightness. Naturally, there are absolutely no stability issues to report in this review. To sum it all up, while Indigenes is appearing rather late on Blu-ray in North America, it certainly looks very impressive. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Days of Glory Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are three audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: French DTS 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1, and French Dolby Digital 2.0. For the record, Alliance have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they split the image frame and the black bar below it.

I was hoping that Alliance might be able to upgrade the French DTS 5.1 track from the Metrodome Video release to either a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 or Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track, but it would appear that they also had access only to a lossy track ('borrowing' the TF1 transfer, which apparently comes with a French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, instead of the transfer Metrodome Video used certainly would have been a better option).

Nevertheless, the French DTS 5.1 track is actually one of the very best lossy tracks to appear on Blu-ray since the format was launched. I remember when the Metrodome Video release of Indigenes came out a couple of years ago I was quite impressed with it and speculated that if it contained a oseless track it would have probably been regarded as one of the best on the UK market. The various battle scenes, for instance, sound very good - the surround channels are incredibly well used and the wide range of dynamics rather impressive. Occasionally the bass lacks that punchy edge loseless audio typically delivers, but it is nevertheless very strong. The dialog is crisp, clean, stable, and exceptionally easy to follow.

Days of Glory Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Most unfortunately, there are absolutely no supplemental features to be found on this Blu-ray disc.

Days of Glory Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is quite disappointing that no U.S. distributor bothered to release Rachid Bouchareb's Indigènes on Blu-ray, even though the film was selected to represent Algeria at the Oscars and went on to win numerous awards at various film festivals around the world. Now Canadian distributors Alliance have finally brought Indigènes to North America. As they say, better late than never. I like this film a lot. It is powerful and exceptionally well acted. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.