Beasts of No Nation-2015

Director Cary Joji Fukunaga

Starring Abraham Attah

Scott’s Review #380

Reviewed February 21, 2016

Grade: B+

After hearing about this film through the healthy number of independent film award nominations it received in 2015, I watched Beasts of No Nation, a war drama set in an unnamed West African country.

It tells the story of dire events through the eyes of a young boy who has lost his family.

He is forced into a life of brutality and death, taken under the wing of a charismatic commander.

Beasts of No Nation is sometimes raw, sometimes gorgeous, but always thoughtful, a powerful telling of the devastation of human life in a world very few can comprehend.

We first meet Agu (approximately aged eight or nine), wonderfully played by unknown child actor Abraham Attah, during happy times.

He plays with his childhood chums and adores his older brother, who is attempting to woo a pretty girl. His father is a leader, and the family lives in a small village protected by troops.

They allow refugees in for care.

Their country is in a civil war, but the family happily survives and makes a life for themselves, sharing meals. Suddenly, the government has fallen, and rebels seize the area.

Soon, Agu’s family is gone, leaving him alone and scared.

His world turns upside down; he becomes involved with a militia commandant, played by Idris Elba, and a fellow child soldier named Strika, who takes him in.

The film centers on two actors, Attah and Elba, though the whole cast performs with precision.

The relationship between the characters is interesting and complex, like a father/son mixed with mentor/protégé, and it’s the film’s most compelling part.

The commander is a father figure to Agu. He sees a warrior in him, takes him under his wing, feeds him, and cares for him.

He is never violent or abusive towards Agu, and in one powerful scene, Agu is sodomized ( mostly off-screen yet very much implied), and Agu seeks comfort in his best friend Strika, who has also met the same actions prior.

One cannot help but think sexual assaults like this are perceived and handled differently in Africa.

Rape is a subject that comes up numerous times in the film, mostly against women.

Throughout the film, I noticed the beauty of the cinematography, as most scenes are set outside. Lush, green forests and tranquil villages contrast starkly with the violence.

Agu does some terrible things- in one brutal scene, an innocent student is hacked to bits by Agu and Strika at the commander’s coaching as a sort of initiation.

Agu sees the student as responsible for his family’s fate and goes berserk.

Agu then tearfully mistakes a village woman for his mother and angrily shoots her dead as his cohorts are raping her. The film isn’t soft and contains a lot of violence.

But again, this is a world unknown to most viewers.

At times we despise Agu and the violent rage he emits, but then we remember he is a young boy being turned into a warrior by savages.

He talks to God and his mother and knows what he does (and what is happening to his country) is wrong.

I would have liked to learn more about Elba’s background. What makes him tick? Has he lost loved ones long ago as Agu has?

I surmised that the answer is yes. He is brutal, but a calm, calculating, and thoughtful, always in control.

As war rages on, Agu and his fellow tribe question what they are doing. Such smarts for a young boy, and the audience admires his views. He is intellectual and worldly, way beyond his years.

That is what makes Beasts of No Nation a compelling character study.

I more than once thought that I had seen this type of film before (Last King of Scotland, 2006, comes to mind in recent times), but never to the extent of what a character-driven story it was, especially in the eyes of a child.

Beasts of No Nation (2015) takes the viewer into an unpleasant world of brutality and a world where there is no rulebook.

We witness a once-innocent child’s experiences and conflicted feelings in the face of danger and heartbreak, and learn about its complications.

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: 2 wins-Best Feature, Best Director-Cary Joji Fukunaga, Best Male Lead-Abraham Attah (won), Best Supporting Male-Idris Elba (won), Best Cinematography