War Witch

War Witch is a Canadian film, shot entirely in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is the fifth and last of last year's nominees for the Oscar in Best Foreign Language Film that I've seen.

Directed by Kim Nguyen, it tells an all-too familiar story: a twelve-year-old girl is abducted from her village by rebels. She is forced to kill her own parents with a machine gun, and then trained to fight for a charismatic leader, called The Great Tiger. If this weren't enough, she is able to see ghosts, including those of her parents, who warn her of an ambush. Because she survives this, the Great Tiger makes her his "war witch." But that's not necessarily a good thing. She is told the Great Tiger has killed his last three war witches.

The girl, Komona, spends two years either in the rebel army or on the run with her fellow rebel and soon to be husband, known only as "the Magician," a boy who has talismans for all occasions. They move in with the boy's uncle, but Komona is soon recaptured by the rebels and made a concubine by the commander, who impregnates her. She gets some pretty nasty revenge, though.

I found the film to be okay, but given the horrific situation not particularly evocative. The magic realism is a nice touch, but isn't really explored. It's almost a fairy-tale, and suggests that there might be a happy ending, when I'm not sure anyone has any happy endings in the midst of that war-torn country.

The two children in lead roles, Rachel Mwanza and Serge Kanyinda, are quite good. But I think there are better and more incendiary films out there about child soldiers. This one, believe it or not, is the softer, hopeful version.

Now that I've seen all five films, Amour, the winner, was absolutely justified. It's no contest.