This riveting ‘secret history’ of France’s exploitation of the indigenous peoples of its North African colonies as soldiers in World War Two is both an intensely exciting traditional war film and an incisive, moving, indictment of imperialist racism.
A French unit made up of Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian infantrymen leave their homes in North Africa to fight the Nazis for the liberation of, as they call it, the Motherland. Initially buoyant, they soon realise they are seen as expendable fodder for the French army.
With inadequate equipment (given sandals to wear in snow), no leave, no promotion and no respect they are continually put on the front line where casualties are horrific.
The lead actors are all of such calibre that they were, in an historical first, collectively awarded the Best Actor award at Cannes Film Festival. The film notes that, to this day, colonial soldiers who fought for a free France are still awaiting a decision about their war pensions which were promised and never delivered.
What impresses most about the film is how it manages to deliver both genre thrills and political commentary while transcending this to arrive at something profoundly human. As the director Rachid Bouchareb comments: “I didn’t want to be didactic, which serves nothing. We developed the screenplay over two and a half years. We needed 25 versions to be able to step beyond history and concentrate on the human subject matter, on all the tiny details of daily life which reflect life far better than any speech.“
