Glorious Achievement: A Review of Indigénes

The story follows a brigade of Algerian troops eager to defend their Motherland (France, their conqueror) for a number of varied reasons—money, hope French respect/citizenship, or, in one case, out of boredom, desperation and poverty. The focal characters are: two brothers, older Yassir (Samy Naceri) and younger Larbi (Assaad Bouab), Abdelkader (Sami Bouajila), a natural born leader and intellectual, Said (Jamel Debbouze) a naïve mama’s boy with a simple mind and a softer heart and Massauoud (Roschdy Zem) a homely romantic with aspirations of assimilation into white French society. All are under often cruel, rarely compassionate eye of a lighter-skinned French sergeant, (Bernard Blancan).

From scene to scene, the inevitability of each man’s death becomes increasing tangible, while, inversely, their hopes and dreams become more remote. Compounding the tragedy, Bouchareb directs the entire movie in a matter-of-fact natural style, without any obscene gore or in-your-face “this is war, man!” close-ups. It’s this easy distance that further dramatizes the Algerians’ helplessness. The dénouement, a showdown with a German company of troops in Alsace, on the Eastern Border of France marks an ominous homecoming for the surviving men. They’re in the Motherland, alright, but they won’t be allowed to stay very long, no matter how strong their convictions, brave their hearts or deep their love for France.

Sun-Yi Park - www.myspace.com/koreanfilmfan