Beasts of No Nation (2015)
Dir. Cary Joji Fukunaga
“A drama based on the experiences of Agu, a child soldier fighting in the civil war of an unnamed African country.” — IMDb
On one hand the film is very good, it’s shot well and the performances are all excellent; Abraham Attah is particularly exceptional for what is a first-time performance and will no doubt be collecting a few awards over the next year. The film has depth without resorting to too much needless exposition, the scenario is a sadly familiar one to anyone who pays attention to world news or history. Everything just works. The film goes through all the motions and narrative points you’d expect with a story like this and finishes as you would expect. It’s very good, but unremarkable. And, on the other hand it’s yet another Western portrayal of a nondescript war-torn African country.
I know, this is an adaptation of a novel by the same name by Uzodinma Iweala, but if a Nigerian filmmaker had decided to make this film that’s fine, how Africans choose to portray themselves is entirely their prerogative. But I’m getting really tired of the Western gaze specifically focusing on war and tragedy when it comes to the stories they tell regarding countries in Africa, the Middle East, South East Asia etc.
There are filmmakers in those regions all making fantastic films that have to do with daily life, drama, comedy, politics, fantasy, sci-fi etc. 1) why can’t the West make more effort in showcasing these films? and 2) If Western filmmakers are going to make a novel adaptation or create an entirely new piece of fiction based in these places why focus solely on aspects that are likely to perpetuate damaging stereotypes about a region and its people?
If war and tragedy are all the West ever sees of these places in cinema how are we ever going to discover anything new? How are we going to have anything to say other than “oh, it must be awful there, Susan” before we switch off, ignore the next commercial from Unicef, complain about a lack of money spent on aid in our own countries while splashing cash on a 2 week stay at Sharm el-Sheikh.
We need to do better.
