Beasts of No Nation
The film goes on the same ranks as Slumdog Millionaire, City of God and Hotel Rwanda for Academy Award winning potential for their depictions of third-world turmoil. Cary Fukunaga aesthetically captures a young boy in the midst of a civil war in modern day Africa. The boy (Abraham Attah) is taken in by a commander (Idris Elba) of a rebel military group after his home has been destroyed by government soldiers. Beasts of No Nation perfectly captures the harsh realities of child soldiers fighting in wars and the effect it has on them. A lot of the socially conscious films hypnotize you into wanting more from the movie. Beasts of No Nation is one of those films where you’re completely sucked in and you ignore everything else around you. It’s the kind of feeling you get when you’re watching porn, your mind and body is in to it, except with this movie it’s only your mental mind that’s doing all the work. The charismatic theme with the movie was so well done it kept me in a state of social awareness for maybe a couple hours but it had that much of an impact where normally I would just forget a movie I just watched and go back to my daily life.
The performances from the actors made the film fun to watch. Idris Elba delivers a performance that is almost Brando-like. His commanding presence and his strong demeanor gives the movie a life of its own. This may be Elba’s breakthrough role that will earn him an Academy Award. Elba’s role in the movie was phenomenal but it was Abraham Attah’s performance that carried the film. The two actors give the movie a contrast between both worlds, one being the violent and courageous rebel and the other being the vulnerable and brave child. Attah beautifully executes the vulnerability of a child solider being brought into war. Any of us who grew up in America would certainly be out of touch with the third-world countries, so it would be hard to know what it’s like to live in a society that’s socially unjust. Attah’s performance sort of demonstrates that third-world unjust through his attitude and his actions. The whole movie itself was well crafted. There wasn’t a single dull moment in the movie where I felt like I wanted to leave the theater, I was completely hooked. If you ask me the movie should get a wider release, so more people could watch it and experience the same feelings that I’ve experienced.
Sparrows
The film is a generic tale of a lonely 16 year old boy, Ari who goes through problems throughout his teenage years. He is forced to live with his deadbeat dad somewhere in the northern part of Iceland. He struggles to connect with the students at his new high school. The movie starts off a little slow. The quiet overtone of the film reminded me a little of Ryan Gosling in Only God Forgives where the character had little to say for the majority of the movie. The absent soundtrack made the movie a little dull. But one can argue that the absence of soundtrack gave in to the character’s void as an unhappy teen who wants nothing but to go back to his old life with his mom.
He encounters a childhood friend, Lara whom he’s in love with. She’s with an overprotective boyfriend who makes sure they don’t see each other by constantly harassing him. Of course, this is a tale that’s been told before in countless films. An alienating teen, who has trouble connecting with people and is faced with problems involving his domestic life. In Brian De Palma’s Carrie, for instance is themed around Sissy Spacek’s character being the “outcast” at her high school and because of it, she was tormented and bullied. Even a more recent film like, The Perks of Being a Wallflower deals with alienation and egotistic jocks. The movie fails to be original with its protagonist but, its gentle; heart warming moments makes you want to see more and to found out what happens to Ari at the end. Does he get the girl? Will he rekindle his relationship with his father or will he move back with his mom? These were all questions I was asking myself upon screening it.