Sorry, this movie sucks

Really Surprised!

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

I really loved this movie. I think it is my favorite film from Africa that I have watched so far. The way that the director portrayed the ghosts was very creative and made it seem more real. The various magical and spiritual elements that were woven into the movie made the plot even more interesting. Komona is a young girl who gets kidnapped by rebel forces and forced to murder her parents. The strength that she exudes throughout the movie is very impressive especially based off of what she has seen and done in her short life. At first I was worried that the Magician's love for her was not reciprocated, but it was evident that it was especially in the scene where they are laughing in the woods. I thought that was a very sweet part. I found the balance between the positive and negative in the film to be refreshing because I feel like there has been a lot more negative in many of the foreign films that I have seen. Yes, this film was sometimes gruesome and upsetting to the point where I had to look away in some scenes, but those scenes were short and usually balanced by some positive scenes later. Overall, I was really engrossed in this film and would give it 5/5 stars.

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.

There are already a few pieces of movies with the same core reference to child soldiers in Africa. They all had one thing in common - they showed us an overall birds-eye view of what child soldiering was like. This movie appeared to be steered in a different way. It is not an overall picture of things, but rather a personal ordeal told from a strong-willed girl.Aside from some of the the wishy washy 'voodoo' and romance elements of it, there are many things worth pointing out from this movie. The key attraction is of course the fantasy side of things which artistically fit very well into the overall story. But ultimately it is a heartwarming story of survival.The style used in this movie reminded me of City of God, not because of whether it possess the same style or the gore behind it (well it was not that gory), but the music used and the tone of the setting are unique in its own way.

Canadian screenwriter and director Kim Nguyen's third feature film which he wrote and co-produced, is inspired by stories of real life child soldiers. It premiered In competition at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival in 2012, was screened in the Special Presentations section at the 37th Toronto International Film Festival in 2012, was shot on location in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is a Canadian production which was produced by producers Marie-Claude Poulin and Pierre Even. It tells the story about a twelve-year-old girl named Komona who is kidnapped from her African village by a group of lawless soldiers called the great tigers, recruited as one of their rebels and trained to become a participant in their war against the government. Komona is radically changed by the violence that invades her life, but her ability to survive amazes her commander and he names her "War Witch".Subtly and engagingly directed by Canadian filmmaker Kim Nguyen, this finely paced fictional tale which is narrated by the main character and mostly from her point of view, draws an involving and heartrending portrayal of a 12-year-old girl's transition from an ordinary girl to a soldier equipped with a deadly weapon and her relationship with an elder boy named Magician. While notable for its naturalistic and atmospheric milieu depictions, sterling cinematography by Canadian cinematographer Nicolas Bolduc and use of sound, this character-driven, narrative-driven and humane drama about the loss of innocence, the psychological effects of war, survival and a fourteen-year-old girl's internal conversation with the child she is about to give birth to, depicts an incisive study of character.This romantic, at times humorous and somewhat mysterious coming-of-age tale which was chosen as Canada's submission to the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 85th Academy Awards in 2013 and where brutality alters the mind of a person whom is forced into a life where death is lurking on every corner, is impelled and reinforced by its cogent narrative structure, substantial character development, reflective voice-over narration and the impressive acting performances by Congolese actress Rachel Mwanza and actor Serge Kanyinda in their debut feature film roles. A spiritual and tangible love-story about the eternal power of life which gained, among other awards, the Silver Bear for Best Actress Rachel Mwanza at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival in 2012.