War Dance

I must admit I wasn't in the mood to see an earnest, well-meaning PBS-style documentary when I put War Dance into the DVD player. But over the course of the film I was gradually won over, and only a person with a completely dessicated heart could not help but be moved by the climax.

The film details a small community in the north of Uganda, which has been ravaged by war between the government and rebels. Directors Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine focus on three children, member of the Acholi tribe and students at Patongo Primary. They live in a refugee camp, and all have experienced the kind of horrors that are too terrible to contemplate. Nancy has watched her father be hacked to death; Dominic and his brother were abducted by rebels, he was compelled to be a child soldier; and both of Rose's parents were killed. How she discovered this is unspeakably horrific. We are told that 200,000 children have been orphaned in the conflict.

The children tell these stories matter-of-factly, straight to the camera, and the only emotion they show is an occasional tear rolling down the cheek. There is a remarkable scene in which Dominic visits the local military base to get a chance to talk to a captured rebel leader who might have seen his brother. They have a conversation that, if it weren't subtitled, you might mistake for a dispassionate discussion about the weather, but the rebel is telling Dominic that his brother is likely dead. He then explains to the curious Dominic why children are abducted and turned into soldiers.

The children of the school have won the regional competition for a national music festival. They are assisted by professional musicians, and travel to the capital, Kampala, which to their eyes might as well be the moon. They are distinct underdogs, but they have a lot of pride and spirit, and Dominic is a whiz on the xylophone. I could watch this kid play for an hour.

It's at the competition that a certain sports-film motif sets in, but the directors keep the mawkishness to a minimum. The DVD has no interviews with the directors, which is too bad because I've wondered about films like this (such as Spellbound) that follow individuals or teams in competitions. Would there be a story if they lay an egg?