Main Cast: Jamel Debbouze, Samy Naceri, Roschdy Zem, Sami Bouajila, Bernard Blancan
Release Year: 2006
Country: FR/DZ/BE/MA
Run Time: 123 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Director Rachid Bouchareb teams with screenwriter Olivier Morelle to offer a revealing look at the brave contributions made by North African soldiers who fought for France during World War II in this emotionally-charged war drama starring Jamel Debbouze, Samy Naceri, Sami Bouajila, and Bernard Blancan. The year was 1943 and France had been bending to the will of Nazi Germany for three long years. In order to break Hitler's powerful grip, the first French Army was recruited in Africa. Comprised of 130,000 North Africans who were willing to put their lives on the line in order to defeat the Nazi death machine, the fearless fighters were contemptuously dubbed indigènes (natives) by many French, despite their remarkable sacrifice. From the noble Abdelkader (Bouajila), who is fighting strictly for the cause; to the money motivated Yassir (Naceri); the impoverished Saïd (Debbouze); and die-hard romantic Messaoud (Roschdy Zem), who longs to finally visit the country he has dreamt about from afar, the selfless efforts of these remarkable men ultimately transcend their superiors' contemptuous disregard for their service by providing invaluable aid during one of the world's darkest hours. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Cast
Jamel Debbouze - Saïd
Samy Naceri - Yassir
Roschdy Zem - Massaoud
Sami Bouajila - Abdelkader
Bernard Blancan - Sergeant Martinez
Mathieu Simonet - Leroux; Benoit Giros - Captain Durieux; Melanie Laurent - Marguerite; Antoine Chappey - Colonel; Assaad Bouab - Larbi; Aurélie Eltvedt - Irène; Thomas Langmann - Journalist; Thibault de Montalembert - Captain Martin; Diouc Koma - Touré; Philippe Beglia - Rambert; Momo Debbouze - Djellall; Abdelkrim Bouchareb - Ahmed; Abdelhamid Idjaini - Omar; Abdeslam Arbaoui; Francis Arnould; Roger Arnould; Omar Bekhaled; Nadji Beida; Julie de Bona; Franck Bonetto; Jean-Pierre Boudhar; Allai Boukhari; Abdelrahim Bouzine; Ken Brekke; Mylène Caverzazi; Ben Aissa El Jirai; Emmauel Georges; José Gomez; Othman Illyassa; Klaisel Kikouama; Frédéric Lanoir; Corentin Lobet; Christophe Locatelli; Naima Macherquei; Mohamed Madj; Thierry Magnier; Mourad Maimuni; Mohamed Melouk; Bernard Morin; Mohamed Nesrate; Antoine Pappalardo; Fabien Parfait; Vincent Paris; Audrey Perrin; Mathieu Schiffman; Patrice Simon; Titus Fisher Fils; Pia Vuorinen; Kevin Weiss; Anton Yakovlev
Credit
Dominique Douret - Art Director, Thierry Flamand - Art Director, Thomas Langmann - Associate Producer, Nora Habib - Casting, Noureddine Aberdine - Casting, Marion Touitou - Casting, Tristan Ravasco - Casting, Kadjia Leclère - Casting, Armand Amar - Conductor, Deyan Pavlov - Conductor, Jamel Debbouze - Co-producer, Michele Richer - Costume Designer, Mathieu Schiffman - First Assistant Director, Eric Pujol - First Assistant Director, Mohamed Nesrate - First Assistant Director, Olivier Coutard - First Assistant Director, Guillaume Bonnier - First Assistant Director, Rachid Bouchareb - Director, Yannick Kergoat - Editor, Muriel Merlin - Executive Producer, Myriam Abikzer - Executive Producer, Reynald Martin - Hair Styles, Armand Amar - Composer (Music Score), Armand Amar - Musical Arrangement, Mathieu Coupat - Musical Arrangement, Camille Adrien - Musical Arrangement, Jerome Lateur - Musical Direction/Supervision, Nezha Aouis - Makeup, Delphine Duguet - Makeup, Patrick Blossier - Cinematographer, Antoine Beau - Production Manager, Bernard Bolzinger - Production Manager, Philippe Garnier - Production Manager, Abdelwahab Adil - Production Manager, Jean Brehat - Producer, Olivier Bronckart - Producer, Jacques-Henri Bronckart - Producer, Les Versaillais - Special Effects, Olivier Hespel - Sound/Sound Designer, Thomas Gauder - Sound/Sound Designer, Olivier Walczak - Sound/Sound Designer, Franck Rubio - Sound/Sound Designer, Ricardo Castro - Sound Recordist, Patrick Cauderlier - Stunts Coordinator, Yan Dron - Stunts Coordinator, Jean-Baptiste Bonetto - Special Effects Supervisor, Yves Domenjoud - Special Effects Supervisor, Oliver Gleyze - Special Effects Supervisor, Antoine Moussault - Unit Production Manager, Youssef Abagourram - Unit Production Manager, Stéphane Basset - Unit Production Manager, Philippe Meyer - Unit Production Manager, Rachid Bouchareb - Dialogue Writer, Olivier Lorelle - Dialogue Writer, Rachid Bouchareb - Screenwriter, Olivier Lorelle - Screenwriter, Jerome Almeras - Second Unit Director Of Photography, Khalèd - Additional Music, M. Najib Benfares - Gaffer, Rachid Madaoui - Gaffer, Abdelillah Laghrissi - Gaffer, Jerome Lateur - Music Producer, Khalèd - Musical Performer, Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra - Musical Performer, Saadia Ettouati - Post Production Supervisor, Cédric Aalami - Production Coordinator, Virginie Barbay - Script Supervisor, Virginie Combet - Script Supervisor, Larbi Idrissi - Second Assistant Director, Raphaelle Piani - Second Assistant Director, Anne Bernard - Second Assistant Director, Laurent Valla - Special Effects Coordinator, Brahim Boussalem - Special Effects Coordinator, Marie-Jose Escolar - Costumes Supervisor, Hassan Taghriti - Costumes Supervisor, Véronique Tremoureux-Baron - Costumes Supervisor, François Quilichini - Key Make-up, Emmanuel Maintigneux - Set Decorator, L'E.S.T. - Title Design, Ercidan - Title Design
As well as being successful as a war movie described as a kind of a North African Saving Private Ryan, the film deals with discriminatory treatment of French Africans (the French title translates as Natives) which is still an issue today, and led to a change in government policy.[1]
Four Indigènes in a mobile corps[3] with a reputation for endurance and courage in close combat are sent to the front line, each with a different personal purpose as they fight their way through the Italian Campaign and on to Operation Dragoon to liberate France. One seeks booty, one has joined the army to escape poverty in hopes that it will be his family, one wants to marry and settle in France while the other is fighting in the hope of equality and recognition of the rights of the colonised Algerians.[2] They encounter only discrimination in the army.[4]
Modern relevance
While each has his own motives, these native Africans have enlisted to fight for a France they have never seen. In the words of a wartime recruiting song the four actors sing within the film as well as at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, "we come from the colonies to save the motherland, we come from afar to die, we are the men of Africa." The film shows a complex depiction of their shabby treatment in an army organisation prejudiced in favour of the European French, a wartime injustice which relates directly to continuing modern tensions.[1]
The discrimination by the French authorities against these soldiers continued as successive French governments froze the war pensions of these indigenous veterans when their countries became independent, and it was only after the film's release that the government policy was changed to bring foreign combatant pensions into line with what French veterans are paid[5].
Notes
The film thanks "Monsieur Claude Bébéar", French businessman.
^ The film is a bit confused on this point. At one point, their unit is named as the 7th Algerian Tirailleur Regiment, but in fact the Goumiers were organized into four regimental-sized groups that were independent of the Tirailleur regiments.
Driss Maghraoui, Moroccan-American scholar on the topic of the Goumiers, Recipient of Doctorate from UC Santa Cruz and author of articles in the Journal of North African Studies on the topic.
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