Indigenes is an important film insofar as it personifies the often indiscernible and understated difference between tone and mood. Although it’s a distinction more commonly made when observing literature, nevertheless, it is crucial towards defining the director’s role, specifically their contribution (or lack thereof) in terms of personality. In regards to Indigenes, it represents this distinction simply because tone is nearly nonexistent in the film, and by extension, neither is a personality behind the camera. Instead, stylistic--and I use this term very loosely--choices are reserved for creating a mood, or a guide to how the audience should feel. The sole exception to this, of course, is the final battle scene, in which the two sides of this coin are flipped--and…

Part 25 of the 30 Countries project.

For the purposes of this project this movie is classed as at least partially being of Algerian origin as per its listing on imdb.

Indigenes: Colonial African soldiers who fought for France in World War II.

With a similar structure to Samuel Fuller's The Big Red One Rachid Bouchareb's Oscar nominated war movie is less a statement on the folly of war but a political picture about the mistreatment of these Indigenes by the French. It's the same old racist story told again and again and it does get any less galling, each injustice feels as fresh and offensive as if it was the first time and it is that power that caused…

It's hard to understand why this is such an enjoyable film. On the face of it, it's a relatively standard war film, based on the exploits North African soldiers drafted into the French army to liberate France in the Second World War.

The first three quarters of the film tells the story of four of these Algerian men, from enlisting, through first combat and detailing the relationships they develop. It's flat, standard fare enlivened only by the laudable but at times clumsy and less than subtle illustratration of the various inequalities and exploitations of the North African soldiers compared to their french counterparts. The acting especially by the likes of Jamel Debbouze, Roschdy Zem and Sami Bouajila is understated and…

Indigenes is an important film insofar as it personifies the often indiscernible and understated difference between tone and mood. Although it’s a distinction more commonly made when observing literature, nevertheless, it is crucial towards defining the director’s role, specifically their contribution (or lack thereof) in terms of personality. In regards to Indigenes, it represents this distinction simply because tone is nearly nonexistent in the film, and by extension, neither is a personality behind the camera. Instead, stylistic--and I use this term very loosely--choices are reserved for creating a mood, or a guide to how the audience should feel. The sole exception to this, of course, is the final battle scene, in which the two sides of this coin are flipped--and…

This movie follows the formula of a typical war movie, except the main characters are North African soldiers, a minority group in the narrative of WWII but a large integral presence whose contributions have been marginalized. The premise is similar to "Glory," the Civil War movie about an all-black regiment that faces discrimination. The title even evokes "Glory." Upon doing further research, I learned that the title actually refers to La Marsaillaise, the French national anthem. The movie asks fundamental questions about Algerian identity--do they feel a part of the French society that has done them wrong? The title suggests that not only do they identify with France, but that they are willing to die for the French cause. However,…