Biribi on AllMovie

Based on the novel Biribi, by Georges Darrien, this French film brings to the screen the story of Froissard (Michel Tureau), a young French soldier in the late 19th century who is assigned to Biribi, a disciplinary battalion in North Africa. Disciplinary battalions, then as now, were alternatives to prisons and court martials. Misfits and "hard cases" that the military is unable or unwilling to deal with in some other way are assigned to Biribis. However, a somewhat similar group of problem soldiers are often assigned to run such units. In this case, the young soldier Froissard, guilty of nothing much, is assigned to the battalion because of the indifferent negligence of his superior officers. He is placed under the leadership of sadists, rapists, and tough cases of all kinds.