Rebelle

In the harrowing, Oscar-nominated Canadian drama "War Witch," a young African girl is conscripted into a band of armed rebels, ordered by them to kill her own parents, then forced, along with the other children in her village, to fight against the government forces they're opposing. Because she seemingly has some sort of psychic visions of where the enemy is hiding in the woods (it's actually hallucinations brought on by a psychotropic liquid she imbibes from some local plants), she earns the position of personal "witch" to the chief rebel himself - a position that brings with it special protection as well (at least up to a point). But that's only the beginning of Komona's ordeal as she hooks up with an albino "magician" (the excellent Serge Kanyinda) with whom she tries to flee the horrors of the world around them.

And it is those very horrors - the nonstop terror and violence, and the ever present prospect of sudden death - that writer/director Kim Nguyen captures to such powerful effect in this film. Despite its occasional forays into the surreal, what one takes away most from "War Witch" is its unflinching willingness to confront the brutal realities of life for Komona and the countless others who share her predicament. Then there are the occasional acts of random kindness that allow hope to flourish even in the most horrible of circumstances.

And all throughout her ordeal, Komona must find a way to bury, both literally and figuratively, the ghosts of the parents she killed.

Rachel Mwanza is utterly amazing as Komona, and she richly deserved all the praise and awards heaped on her for her performance. Whether it's her heartbreaking narration to her unborn child or the understated way in which she reacts to and internally processes the unspeakable atrocities she both witnesses and is forced to commit, Mwanza embodies a much larger tragedy within the narrower confines of a single character.

It may be hard to watch at times, but "War Witch" provides an invaluable reminder of what happens when we send our children off to war.

During African civil war, Komona, a 14-year old African rural girl, gets abducted by some brutal rebellious chaps and bears unbearable woes, along with an unborn war child in her miserable fate. Kim Nguyen, in his path of direction, seems brilliant with the treatment of children psychology in that inhuman environment. He beautifully represents the war-witch, Komona's romance with the Magician who was also believed to have some spiritual ability just like her. The way how Komona is forced to be mature in the cruel world at her early days and her mental conflicts during her pregnancy would play with our sentiments and emotions a lot. A deep melancholy tone flows throughout the film with narratives. Definitely an applauding pick of Oscar board (Y)___

I expected much more from "War Witch". After all, it was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Oscar and is about a very important topic, children who are kidnapped and forced to serve in evil rebel forces in Africa. I've seen several documentaries about this (especially in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda) and the films have been absolutely heartbreaking to watch due to the evil being perpetrated by these groups (such as the Lord's Army). Yet, inexplicably, "War Witch" seemed far less hard-hitting and interesting.

When the film begins, the main character (later dubbed the 'War Witch') is narrating about her life two years earlier. An unnamed rebel group in an unnamed African nation comes on a small village and they kidnap the children (who looked about ages 10-14) and they forced these victims to murder their own parents! Then, they are taken to a rag- tag rebel camp and indoctrinated. The rest of the film follows this girl's adventures--such as her strange ability to see dead people as well as her ill-fated marriage.

Considering how tough the film began, I was really surprised that over time the film just seemed to fizzle and seemed to lack direction. The film SHOULD have been a strong indictment of the evil forces on the continent that rob children of their childhoods but it got lost, a bit, with the ghosts, white chicken, marriage and other distractions. My advice--see one of the documentaries instead, such as "Sewing Hope".

Rachel Mwanza is the war witch of the title, a twelve year old girl who is captured and turned into a child soldier by a violent rebel group fighting undefined government forces in an unnamed African country. Mwanza is quite good as Komona, a kid who has to grow up unnaturally fast. She becomes very proficient with an AK-47, and after surviving an ambush by the enemy, is given the name "war witch" by her leaders. She befriends a boy named the magician, and he looks like a young version of the former basketball player, Dennis Rodman, with platinum blond hair. The two fall in love and escape the rebel fighters, as the film shifts from a war drama to a love story for a brief time. Without giving away too much, there is no happy ending here, and ultimately the theme is just about survival at any cost. A ghost story aspect is part of the plot, a slight reminder of Toni Morrison's "Beloved", a similar mood is shared by the two movies. Rachel Mwanza makes "War Witch" worth it.

I learned about this film "War Witch" because it was nominated for the Oscar in Best Foreign Language Film. It is in French and was submitted by Canada. It is not an easy movie to watch. It chronicles two years in the life of a female child warrior in civil war-torn Africa.

Set in an unspecified African village and country, Komona is a 12 year old girl who was forcibly abducted by rebels to be a child warrior among many other children in her village. She had a unique talent of seeing spirits of the dead, which gave her the distinction of being a "War Witch" and thus a sacred member of their band of rebels. Despite this, she would still live a harrowing life of constant violence and anguish. This would be interrupted by an interlude of love, but sadly it would not last too long.

We hear the story in Komona's point of view so we can share in her very thoughts through her narrations. Young Rachel Mwanza bravely and compellingly played Komona. We literally see her face age from the first time we see her on screen to her final scene. We see a child forced to mature beyond her years in the most brutal ways possible. As you watch this, you will be thankful you do not lead Komona's tortured existence.

The direction, screenplay, cinematography and make-up of this film are outstanding. The depiction of the dead spirits Komona sees are very effective in its simplicity. This film succeeds to bring the heretofore unknown hell as experienced by children in war-ravaged Africa into the consciousness of the rest of the world. Are you ready to see this hell?