Tirailleurs

The Senegalese Tirailleurs fought with distinction in both world wars. They were often involved in the bloodiest battles of the Great War. This film had real potential to showcase their heroic feats but unfortunately our protagonist was a deserter desperate to incite others to escape with him and undermine their officer's authority.

Whilst I agree desertion happened frequently across the front, this shouldn't have been the plot for the one rare instance we get a film about such a little known and decorated military formation...

I hope this film encourages other Directors to create more films about the Colonial units that fought in both wars. Their sacrifices often overlooked and / or forgotten.

Set in Senegal in 1917, the story follows Bakary (Omar Sy) and his son Thierno (Alassane Diong) , who are forced to fight on the French side during the First World War. They have no alternative, because the French have guns and they don't and although they try to escape, they are captured and taken to the front of the war.

The director of photography for Untouchables by Eric Toledano and Oliver Nakache, Mathieu Vadepied, and one of its iconic protagonists, Omar Sy, come together again in this war drama set during World War I, in which a father enlists himself in the French Army in order to be with his 17-year-old son who was recruited against his will. Sent to the front, they find themselves facing the war together in the French colony of Senegal during WWI , when all they want is to return home. The film led the French box office for its first four weeks in theaters. There are combats, few and limited, and intense drama, which begins as a critique of colonialism and ends as patriotic glorification. The picture has the merit of constructing an anti-war discourse with transparency and simplicity. But there is no a specific description of the battles, denouncing the forced recruitment of the Africans on the French front and the useless heroism displayed by the not very patriotic soldiers, but especially highlighting the sacrifice and obstinacy of a good father who wants to save his son at any cost, as he attempts to protect, save and rescue him at any price and even his own. Apparently, it carries out a revision of the French colonial past, but the film can be considered as an ambiguous revision that ends in the most dull and ordinary patriotism. Director Mathieu Vadepied met actor Omar Sy during the filming of Intocable (2011), where he was the director of photography. The main star is Omar Sy, who holds up with his charisma; Sy was attached to star in Tirailleurs (2022) for years during development, until he became too old to play the role of the son, and thought about just producing and not starring. Sy is building a French and nternational career including successful films, such as X-Men: Days of Future Past , Jurassic World, Jurassic world: dominion, The Call of the Wild, Le flic de Belleville, Tansformers: The last Knight, Untouchables, and several others.

The film was professionally -but slowly- directed by Mathieu Vadepied. The movie had its world premiere at the 75th Cannes Film Festival as the opening film in the "Un Certain Regard" section on 18 May 2022 Cannes Film Festival and Nominated Un Certain Regard Award: Mathieu Vadepied and Barcelona-Sant Jordi International Film Festival winner Best Actor Omar Sy . Mathieu Vadepied is a good craftsman, a cameraman, production designer and director, being known for La vie en grand, En Thérapie, Sur mes lèvres, Untouchables, among others. Rating: 6/10. For anti-war activists fascinated by the strange beauty of war in cinema.

Another "awesome" moment of the French history... Not only did we colonise countries that didn't need us there, but we also kidnapped their kids, forced them into our armies, and sent them to the French front during World War I. "Fun" fact, we had promised them French nationality and help with their life later on... Which we never actually did. And to add to all this, we of course never talk about it in our History books. The movie is based on this premise, how a father, followed his kidnapped son, to a training camp, where he saw his son being manipulated into thinking it was his fight, and sacrifice his life for the greater good of a France he only saw to be weaponised. The story is a very sad one, but most of all, a story that needs to be told a lot more. Omar Sy is incredible in this movie, a great actor, with a depth that we are not used to see him play, as he is usually a lot more in comedy movies. His son is played by his nephew, which helps a lot in the relationship that you see on screen. All actors are very good in the movie. However, the movie is very long, and very slow, which is a shame for a movie with a great story and great actors. Do you need to see it? Yes, it's a piece of History that tends to be forgotten. Will you like it? No clue, but I came out of the cinema being quite disappointed.

When you watch this movie, you of course think of Rachid Bouchareb's cinema, his movies HORS LA LOI and INDIGENES are totally in the line of this one. A great tribute to African or North African men who fought and die for many of them for the sake of France. Omar Sy is the actor that no director can avoid for such topics, especially with a big budget. It is moving, poignant but it was made to be this way. It could not be shown as a comedy or light hearted story. It's good to tell such fates, show how things were during WW1 for those Africans who gave their life for France, how they were used, sacrified.... It can be seen as an anti war feature but that's not PATHS OF GLORY either.

This film comes from French territory with the intention of taking a different look at France's participation in The Great War. The plot of a father and son who are taken from Nigeria to face a terrible war offers enough to make this a moving and tragic story, not forgetting to mention an ode to the soldiers fallen in battle whose identities have not been identified. It has good actors and good production to make this a good war movie. The bad thing is that there are few combat scenes and we mostly see the father and his son in many conversations, training and trying to survive in the hope of fleeing, although the son is slowly adapting to his new environment. It is a film that gives more priority to the uncomfortable and hostile situation that both protagonists experience, trying to make someone imagine what it would be like to be on a lethal battlefield with their son. It is not an exciting story of father and son facing war, but it is a war story that serves to take a look at one of the events that occurred in France during the war. My final rating for this movie is an 8/10.