Nothing Much Has Changed: Days of Glory, Days of Indignity - Movie Review Example

Nothing much has changed: Days of Glory, Days of Indignity” The movie Days of Glory directed by Rachid Bouchareb, highlights the forms of al racism by focusing on the discriminatory treatment of the colonial North Africans by the white French (Days of Glory, 2006). The idea of the institutional racism deals with any system of inequality which originated due to racial biasness. With the emergence of the institutional racism, the people are treated differently and are provided with a varied access to goods, service and opportunities. In the movie the director highlighted the difference which the African American soldiers faced from the white French army. The movie showcases the tale of four native Africans who were ready to fight for the French troops and the discrimination they faced during the war and also after it. After the war was over the soldiers were also not paid with their war pensions. The movie was also instrumental in highlighting the value of ethics relating to equality and diversity in any organizational life. The movie propagated the idea that any form of biasness among the people with respect to their culture, race, and religion is an unethical practice and such discrimination is in- human in nature. The level of biasness also creates differences within an organization among the set of people and deviates the organization from its organizational objective. The mangers of the organizations thus have a greater role to play in maintaining harmony among the employees and to carefully investigate the fact that no form of discrimination sets in the organization. The mangers in the organization should guide the people effectively to treat each other in respect and to stop the in humanitarian activities as noted in the movie. The discrimination highlighted in the movie occurred in the military troops which itself is an organization and such discrimination does a lot of harm to the overall reputation of the organization. In the movie the French military was blamed for such discrimination which they carried against the native African soldiers. The French government is in responsibility of the French army and they should have been much more conscious regarding the prevention of such discrimination in the military organization. The French army as an organization should have understood the fact that the African natives are carrying on the operation for the benefit of their government and I should have provided all sort of support which they require during the war instead of treating them in the fashion as depicted in the movie. The film provides a different treatment in accessing the virtue of equality and diversity. The crime committed in treating the native African soldiers with discrimination is much more than the discrimination which is observed on the context of organizations as in this case the soldiers had to put their life into stake in the cause of fighting for the country whereas such challenges are not faced by the corporate employees working in the organizations. The nature of discrimination suffered by them was also much higher than the discrimination observed in the organizations. The director of the movie, Rachid Bouchareb aimed at highlighting the discrimination which the African and the Arab soldiers suffered during the Second World War. Though it was their dedicated effort to free the country from the oppression, the suffered discrimination because of the race in which they belonged and were never treated at par with the white French soldiers. The aim of the director to showcase the discrimination however received success as his movie was instrumental in bringing a political change in the country. Though the movie was old fashioned based on the plot of Second World War but it was successful in to create an impact on the political leaders of France and the pension schemes of the soldiers which was un-operational for almost 15 years was soon back on track. The movie was also successful in creating a consciousness among the viewers regarding the almost forgotten story of the native forces from the French North African colonies who sacrificed their lives for the motherland. Te director was successful in reminding the France government regarding their act of meanness and bureaucratic malice and it indeed created a massive impact on the government and order instant payment to the families of the veteran soldiers. As a director, Bouchareb was also successful in highlighting the Arab communities in France who also dedicated their lives in the patriotic flight. In the making of the film the director was inspired to cast the story of oppression of the native African’s of France as the storyline as the director himself belonged to the French Algerian community and he wanted the world to witness the sacrifice and the discrimination which his country men faced as soldiers during the Second World War (Schager, 2006). The films narrative: The narrative of the story was done with elegance by the director. In order to depict the tale of the oppression, the director selected four characters and the story revolved around them. The three characters played their port exceptionally well in their movie to bring out the essence of the movie. The three protagonists in the movie named as Yasir, Messaoud and Abdelkar joined the force for three distinct reasons but their aim was common to fight till the end and to set free their motherland. The oppression of the whole lot of the African soldiers has been symbolized through them in the movie in a wonderful way. The distinct cases of oppression which they had to suffer made the viewers feel empathy towards the protagonist in the movie. Towards the end of the story, it was highlighted that the discrimination of the African soldiers were not only carried out by the French military troops but also by the media as a scene portrays that the cameraman in the war front filming only the white troops standing beside the liberated villagers in a part of the country. The narrative of the story becomes far more realistic as in the end it focuses on the present day situation and highlights the fact that the oppression against the African soldiers have continued even after their war as their pensions are still unavailable to them. The narrative of the film also portrayed that in the initial days of the war, the soldiers were treated as heroes but with the passage of days and the French army nearing the success of liberating their country, the nature of oppression against them increased considerably and they were treated brutally by their fellow soldiers and the other superiors in the military. The discrimination Carried on them had serious implications but they were determined to fight for the cause of the country which was portrayed superbly by the narrative structured for the film. The contribution of the soldiers towards the war has been glorified to highlight the in human nature of the racial discrimination carried out against them. Overall the narrative used the film constantly aimed at depicting the racial discrimination which was persistent in the society and even it was not spared among the people who sacrificed their lives towards the nation. In the narrative of the film the leadership of the sergeant and the commanding official was also responsible for the hatred which the fellow soldiers carried out against the African soldiers. The leaders also carried racial biasness in their mind and this developed to a greater extent among the other soldiers in the troop. The leaders in the force was expert in deriving the best out of the African soldiers but provided little or no benefits to them in comparison to the white soldiers in the troops. It was under the instructions and guidance of them that the black soldiers delivering towards the needs of the country were neglected and were treated differently. The leaders in the military force showed the path which the other white troops followed. It appeared quite hurting to view this nature exhibited by the leaders of the French troops. However the only social theory which could be related to the narrative in the film is the power and dominance which the white people in France and other European nations have exerted over the black people through ages. The dominance has prevailed over them and no thoughts have been provided to judge the fairness behind such actions. The exercise of the power and dominance and the feeling of superiority by the white people have been vividly narrated in the movie. These narrative used in the film captured the attention of the viewers all through and helped in providing a significant meaning to the story. However the most striking part of the narrative which can be held as noble and beautiful is the portrayal of the dedication and the love of the African soldiers towards the country. In spite of the brutal activities conducted against them, their love for the country did not ceased to exist and they delivered their best. The overall narrative of this part appears very inspirational for the viewers (Scott, 2006). Representation of the Arabs and Africans: In the movie, the Arabs and the Africans are represented as the deprived class who has suffered racial discrimination in spite of their dedication to help the nation in times of crisis. They have been treated as a segregated part of the society and were never provided any benefits which the other communities present in the country enjoyed. The portrayal of the situation of the Arab and the Africans can be linked to the present situations of the Arabs and the Muslims which is being represented by the contemporary British political and media discourses. The Arabs and the Muslims were under the racial discrimination by the British over the decades and their nature of discrimination also have been widely promoted by the British media and in the recent years much improvement have been made to stop the oppression among them and to provide equal rights in the society. The media have also raised strong protest against the racial discrimination prevalent in the country and have forced the political leaders to stop the brutality against the particular section of the society (Bradshaw, 2007). The treatment of the Arab and Africans and the nature of the organization: The cruel treatment of the Arab and the Africans in the movie as depicted through the story reflects their overall condition of distress and hardship which they had to encounter in their daily life. In the movie much stress has been provided to highlight their condition in the French troops when they were recruited to serve the nation. As an organization, the biasness of the French military has been pointed. The French military has been portrayed as an organization which did not maintained any ethics regarding the treatment of its employee and had continued diversified behavior towards the whites and the African. The basic humanitarian rights were also not provided to a certain section of the people employed by them. There was also the absence of values regarding organizational culture which caused discrepancy in the system and allowed some of the troops for leave while others were send on consecutive missions without proper facilities of food (Days of Glory, 2006). Conclusion: The study of the film helped to focus on the range of racial discrimination which was carried on the African soldiers based in France during the Second World War. The movie was also instrumental in creating notable political change which ultimately benefited the deprived people. Another importance of the movie which has been highlighted is the fact that the movie stresses on the incorporation of values of ethics and humanity in the organizations so that any of them are not deprived. It stresses on the importance of equality and diversity which must be present in every section of the society so that no individual is discriminated on the basis of their race, sex, and religion. The harsh truth of racial discrimination has been eloquently framed throughout the movie and has become successful in creating an impression in the minds of the viewers. Over the entire movie has been successful in establishing its mark as a thought provoking movie. References Bradshaw, P. (2007), Days of Glory. Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2007/mar/30/actionandadventure.drama (accessed on 16.2.2012) Days of Glory, (2006), Dir. Rachid Bouchareb. Perf. Jammel Debbouze, Sky movies Days of Glory, (2006), IMBD, Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0444182/(accessed on 16.2.2012) Scott, A, O. (2006), Yes, Soldiers of France, in All but Name, Available at: http://movies.nytimes.com/2006/12/06/movies/06glor.html?pagewanted=all(accessed on 16.2.2012) Schager, N. (2006), Days of Glory. Available at: http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/days-of-glory/2588 (accessed on 16.2.2012) Read More