WAR WITCH (2012)

 

                    “War Witch” is a Canadian film about child soldiers in Africa.  It was written and directed by Kim Nguyen who was inspired by a story about child soldiers in Burma.  He met with actual child soldiers to write the screenplay.  He decided to set the movie in a fictional African civil war.  The movie was filmed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  The production had to hire security armed with AK-47s.   Many of the roles were given to amateur Congolese actors.  The main role of Komona was given to fifteen-year-old Rachel Mwanza, who was living homeless and living on the streets when she auditioned.  She did not know how to read or write.  The movie was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film by the Academy Awards.

                    The movie opens with a raid on Komona’s village by rebel forces led by Great Tiger (Mizinga Mwinga).  She is conscripted and forced to execute her parents.  She is told that her gun is her mother and father now.  She joins other children as members of the rebel group.  They are trained as soldiers.  She is twelve at the time.  Komona gets a reputation as a witch and becomes Great Tiger’s personal sorceress.  When hallucinating, she can see government soldiers hiding in the jungle, so she is special.  She is befriended by a teenage warrior named Magician (Serge Kanyinda).  They fall in love and escape the rebels in an attempt to live a normal life, but that is not in the cards.  

                    “War Witch” treads similar ground to “Beast of No Nation”.  Both have a teenage soldier as the protagonist who are under the sway of a charismatic rebel leader.  The differences include that “War Witch” has a female main character and “Beast” concentrates much more on the leader (played by Idris Elba).  They share the unrealistic depiction of just how bad life was for the typical child soldier.  Komona’s arc is not nearly harsh enough and the upbeat ending is not convincing.  She does not become a hardened killer (similar to Agu in “Beasts”).  An unrelenting look and the life of a child soldier probably would not be commercially viable, so you can not fault Nguyen for not wallowing in the inhumanity and desensitization most child soldiers experience.  There are enough visceral scenes in the movie to get the point across and its not a documentary.  It is the tale of a remarkable teenage girl who survives against the odds.  The main reason to watch the movie, besides to get informed about child soldiers in Africa, is the performance of Rachel Mwanza.  Considering her background, her debut is awesome.  She carries the film.  She won several acting awards.

                    The movie is a bit overrated.  It is too spare to really have a major impact on the viewer.  There is not a lot of dialogue.  There is no big picture and no villain.  However, it is not predictable.  Partly this is because it pulls its punches a bit.  If seen as a tale of a teenage girl’s journey through the shoals of warfare, it can be entertaining.  You won’t leave it without wondering how this kind of thing can happen to children.

GRADE  =  B

 

NOW STREAMING: Beasts of No Nation (2015)

                “Beasts of No Nation” is based on the acclaimed novel by Uzodinma Iweaga (2005).  The book is about a child soldier in an unnamed west African country.  Cary Joji Fukunaga wrote the adapted screenplay and directed the film.  He spent seven years on the project.  It was filmed in Ghana and the thirty seven day shoot was fraught with problems including Fukunaga contracting malaria.  The movie was a sensation on the international awards circuit and the world distribution rights were bought by Netflix.  When Netflix decided to stream it on their service simultaneously with releasing it to theaters this caused the major theater chains to boycott the film.  Netflix was being punished for violating the traditional 90 day wait before a movie can released after its appearance in theaters.  I have to go with the theater chains on this one. 

               A narrator tells us the country is at war.  Schools are closed and children are looking for things to do.  Oh oh.  Agu (Abraham Attah) and his family are living a decent life in a buffer zone protected by Nigerian peace-keepers.  This will change when the government’s military forces enter the zone.  Agu’s mother and siblings are sent away in the mass exodus, but he has to stay behind with his older brother and father.  Agu’s father and brother do not survive the cleansing process.  Agu escapes to the jungle where he is captured by a motley crew called the National Defense Force.  The creepily charismatic, but dangerously demented leader is “the Commandant” (Idris Elba).  He sees something in Agu and adds him to his band. Training montage intercut with indoctrination from the Commandant.  Initiation via a gauntlet.  Agu has found a new family.  He strikes up a friendship with a mute soulless comrade named Strika (Emmanuel Nii Adom Quaye).  The commandant insists Agu prove he belongs by executing a captive using a machete.  In an indelible scene in slo-mo and soundless, Agu complies and then some.  He is all in now.

                The NDF attacks a bridge and the Commandant uses his charisma to fire up his boys.  This charisma goes from sinister to demonic when the Commandant’s special interest in Agu turns sexual.  Fortunately, not graphically.  A village massacre is ill-timed because the supreme commandant Dada Goodblood is in the “we’re not thugs anymore” phase of his political evolution.  The Commandant is now a political liability and is demoted.  The high fives have turned into a dagger in the back.  So to speak.  He takes his force off to carve out his own domain.  Things do not go well.  The salad days of murdering, raping, and looting are sadly over.  And charisma can only carry you so far when your men are starving, diseased, and getting their asses whipped.  How long will Agu remain loyal to his molester?  Will he ever get to have that childhood?

                “Beasts of No Nation” is the best movie about child soldiers in Africa, but I found it a bit disappointing.  I read the book a while back and was disappointed in it as well.  It is hard to say what is missing.  The acting is stellar.  Obviously the big draw is the wonderful Elba and he is worth the price of admission (or a Netflix subscription).  He is perfect for the Commandant and may get some Academy Awards consideration.  His transformation from Machiavellian to Mephistophelian is intriguing.  Attah is excellent, but Agu’s arc is problematical.  He is not a typical child soldier (like Strika) because he does not lose his humanity.  He does not become hardened and a coldblooded killer.  This does not strike me as realistic.  Strangely, the plot sets up the expectation of a conflict between Agu and Strika as Agu becomes the new pet, but does not deliver. I give the film credit for being unpredictable.  There is no losing virginity scene, for instance.  The film can’t avoid the obligatory child play scenes.  In contrast, the movie pulls its punches on atrocities.  Well, not on the one where Agu earns his stripes.  But that is the only time Agu kills anyone. 

                “Beasts of No Nation” is a very good tutorial on child soldiers.  Unfortunately, it did not have the guts to tell it like it really is.  It is an interesting movie and has some great acting and some amazing cinematography.  It is well worth the watch, especially if you have Netflix and can stream it free.  I could get used to watching new quality war movies from the comfort of my study.  It’s just that after you have seen so many war movies that accurately portray the dehumanizing effect of war on adults, it’s a bit hard to swallow a happy ending for an impressionable boy.

GRADE  =  B