Beasts Of No Nation - Cary Joji Fukunaga
Beasts of No Nation has some major structural flaws, but it is still a fantastic film. We follow Agu, Abraham Attah (Spider-Man: Homecoming & Tasmanian Devil), as he is forced from a contented childhood into the life of a child-soldier.
Once he becomes a soldier, his story is intertwined with that of his Commandant, Idris Elba (The Wire & Luther). These dual storylines are what cause the biggest problem for the film.
Agu is our hero, but there is no crisis for his storyline.
While his fate is tied to the Commandant’s, the crisis faced by their leader is not faced by Agu. Agu has no agency at this part of the film. The downbeat in the film is entirely the Commandant’s.
The setup at the start of the film gives you no idea of what is coming. We get to meet all his family and learn a little about their trials and goals.
While all of the opening scenes feel like separate glimpses of life, we learn that they are all interconnected.
The film captures these kids’ childhoods so well at the start. We get to see this again after the first combat action is over. Agu has just been forced to commit atrocities.
But life resumes, they are kids, and they return to playing. They have to hunt for their food.
This juxtaposition of utter mundanity and brutal atrocity is something else to watch.
There is a terrible section where we begin to suspect, but are not sure, that the Commandant is molesting one of the children. Then Agu is selected.
It is a great choice by the filmmakers not to show this scene. We get to see the impact that it has on Agu, which is heartbreaking.
We are also left guessing, but not really – something happened in there that seriously messed him up, and what else could it be after all that he has seen.
Agu has an internal monologue throughout the film, and it is excellent. We gain insight into what he is thinking as terror surrounds him.
One of the most powerful of these is after they take a town and his comrades are raping a lady, he thinks: God, do you see what we are doing?
A close second is after they have surrendered to the UN, and a councillor is trying to get him to talk. The whole internal speech here is on another level – it is one of the best things ever put to film.
At the end of it, he stares blankly into the lady’s face and thinks: I have been to war, and she doesn’t know what war is.
The speed at which the opening develops is great. Agu’s friendship with one of the other kids is touching.
There are some crazy hallucinations where they get him high as they go into battle. The pathetic downfall of Commandant at the end is a stark contrast to the power he had at the beginning. Overall, it’s a great film.
