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Plot Summary
An African country ,
Agu, a 10-year-old boy is living in a Christian home in an African village. His family is modest but respected because his father is a teacher and a leader in the village. Agu has a big brother and an infant sister. His parents is also taking care of his senile grandfather. As the civil war gets closer, the village’s civilians decide to send the women and children to the capital for safety. Agu’s father struggles to get a seat in an evacuated van for Agu’s mother and sister, but there’s no room for Agu, so he has to stay with his father, big brother and grandfather, along with many men in the village. A short time later, sounds of gunfire appears everywhere as the government troops, along with tanks enter the village. The remaining men and boys try to hide in a house but are discovered by the troops. The leader of the troops then declares them as spies and orders them killed. Agu and his brother run away, but very short after, Agu’s brother is shot by the soldiers. Only Agu makes it out to the forest safely. When being hungry and wandering in the bush to find food, Agu is captured by an armed gang of boys. The gang’s leader is called Commandant. Commandant then lets Agu to join his battalion called NDF and encourages Agu to take revenge for his family. On the way back to NDF’s camp, Agu is further indoctrinated and brainwashed by the Commandant and the boys surrounding him. In the battalion, there’s another boy called Strika who is about the same age as Agu’s. Strika never talks. Agu’s first real mission is carrying an ammo box when the NDF attacks a convoy of jeeps and trucks. After killing most of the people in the convoy by gunfire, they catch a survivor. Commandant gives Adu a machete and tells Agu to kill the man, persuading Agu that the man is a government guy and that Agu has to revenge for his family. Hesitating and thinking a lot, Agu finally hacks the pleading man with Strika’s help. Two little boys together chop the man violently by machetes. Agu is now considered a real soldier in NDF and is given an AK-47. The battalion then carries another attack. The Commandant this time personally leads his scared teen soldiers to a real combat situation. They finally win the fight. It then turns out the Commandant receives orders from another man called the Supreme Commander. One night, the Commandant calls Agu to his office to teach about obedience and rapes Agu. Agu then takes part in a number of bloody battles and ambushes, killing many people. Due to a dispute between the Commandant and the Supreme Commander, the Commandant’s troops now have to go on by their own, as a result, they suffer heavy losses. Strika is also killed by a gunshot during an ambush. The remaining members of the gang can’t stand the lacking of money, food, and bullets, they all leave the Commandant. So does Agu. A short while later, a UN force detain them all. Agu is sent to a safe camp. He goes to school with other youngsters there. But Agu always thinks about his terrible past. He calls himself “a beast” although he also knows that he used to be a good boy, from a good family, and his family loved him. The final scene show Agu playing with the other boys on the peaceful beach.
What’s in it for me?
This film makes me think a lot about our struggling world and humankind. Since the very first days of humankind, the world has seen millions of wars and conflicts. In any war, civilians of the war-torn countries are the most suffering ones. They’re dying for no reason. People have been killing one another in the name of politics and freedom. They forget the essential: humanity. I have been struggling with many questions in my head. Why do people have to kill their own kind? When does our world finally come to No-Single-War Age? What do we need to do with people in war-torn countries, especially children?
Although this film is a fictional one, but it raises many real social issues. Most significant ones are child abuse and refugee crisis. In fact, these ones happen day by day in war-torn countries in Africa of Middle East.
Child abuse is a big problem in any war. Agu and Strika represent for thousands of children in war-torn countries get involved in wars. They’re indoctrinated and brainwashed by adults. They kill “their enemies” with cold-blood faces at the age they should be in schools. Many other can be raped and become victims of sex slavery. But children are still children. Although a written paper cannot be unwritten, we can make it useful instead of throw it away. Similarly, we need to help the suffering children to move on to become useful people and have better future.
Civilians in war-torn countries suddenly and reluctantly become refugees. They have to run away from their own countries to find safer places. Some may be accepted in countries where people have sympathy, some may be refused and ignored. Refugees are not criminals. They are humans like any other humans. Just put yourself in their shoes, you can somehow feel the burden they have on their shoulders. Living in poor and hungry, losing family members, feeling ignored by new communities, etc., that’s why we have to treat them better, because if not, when they’re brainwashed by terrorists or opposing political forces, they might become real “beasts.” As the saying goes, “One should not hit a man when he is down.”
Who’s in the movie?
Director:
Cary Joji Fukunaga. He won Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series with True Detective (2014). Fukunaga’s also known for directing Jane Eyre (2011), Sin Nombre (2009)
Stars:
Abraham Attah, as Agu. Attah won Ghana Movies Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role with this movie. He was one of the presenters for Oscars 2016. He’s also cast in Spider-man: Homecoming (2017).
Idris Elba, as Commandant. Idris Elba won Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television with Luther (2010). He’s also known for Mandela: Long walk to freedom (2013), Pacific Rim (2013), Prometheus (2012), American Gangster (2007)
Ratings
People like this should watch
City of God (2002)
Hotel Rwanda (2004)
Beyond the Gates (2005)
The Last King of Scotland (2006)
Blood Diamond (2006)
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