In a Soldier’s Footsteps (Denmark, 2005, Director: Mette Zeruneith, 89 minutes): Truth really is stranger than fiction. When we first meet Steven Ndugga in 1999, he’s a personable and articulate refugee living in Denmark who approaches the filmmakers wanting to have his story told. A former child soldier, he escaped Uganda with his life, but lost his wife and son. Years later, during the filming of this documentary, he receives information that his son is still alive, and is in fact now a child soldier himself. After Steven returns to Uganda to find his son, he disappears. Over the next five years, he reappears and then disappears again, and the story just keeps getting stranger. Like a Graham Greene novel, the film finds the truth elusive, but it makes a fascinating tale.
Article about the film on the Danish Film Institute web site
(9/10)
The Swenkas (Denmark, 2004, Director: Jeppe Rønde, 72 minutes): This film was really unlike any other documentary I’ve ever seen. The Swenkas are a group of about 20 Zulu men who gather each weekend to “swank”: they dress up in fancy suits and jewellery and compete before a judge to see who is the most stylish. Sort of a “Lord of the Bling” (ooh, couldn’t resist!). But it’s more than just fun for them. Swanking represents self-respect, and these men emphasize certain values such as cleanliness and sobriety. It’s as if the old adage “Clothes make the man” has come to life. Even though some may think these men are spending far too much money on their clothes, it seems to have given them the pride they need to be successful in life. Certainly no one in their families complains. Besides, sometimes they compete for large sums of money (or even, now and then, a cow.)
The reason the film stands out is the way it has been crafted. Director Rønde uses the framing device of a fictional narrator, an old Zulu vagabond who tells us a bit about the group, but also sets up the dramatic arc of the story: the leader of the Swenkas has just died, and his son is grieving and thinking about abandoning the group. This storyline gives the film the feeling of a fictional film, and at times it’s hard to believe that the whole thing isn’t carefully scripted.
The director explained afterwards that he never told the participants what to say, but that since Zulu culture is built around storytelling and the Swenkas were all used to performing, each participant had no trouble “performing” in the film. But they really were working through a difficult time in the life of their group.
The result is a beautifully shot, and even more beautifully edited film that feels more like a fable. The recurring themes are hope and the relationship between fathers and sons. The director actually told us that this film is the second in a trilogy about faith, hope and love, and I found myself really eager to see the other films. A standard documentary approach, with interviews and such, would have made an interesting film. Jeppe Rønde’s unorthodox approach has given us a transcendent one.
More information on the film here.
(10/10)
Evil (Sweden/Denmark, director Mikael Håfström): Based on the Swedish bestseller Ondskan by Jan Guillou, Evil is the story of sixteen-year old Erik, who is expelled from his high school for his constant fighting. What his teachers don’t know is that at home, Erik is being beaten mercilessly by his stepfather, and is lashing out the only way he knows how. He is sent to a prestigious boarding school, where he is determined to make good on his considerable academic potential. But the school is ruled by the cruel whims of the senior students, whose many crimes, both petty and otherwise, are ignored by the faculty. Erik faces a choice. He can fight back, and be expelled, or he can take the humiliation. Or is there another way?
This beautifully-shot film reminded me of Lord of the Flies, for obvious reasons, but has also been compared to Rebel Without A Cause (which, being set in the 1950s, it references directly). It didn’t hurt that Andreas Wilson, the actor who plays Erik, bears some resemblance to James Dean. It’s a very well-crafted film, even if it doesn’t have any revolutionary things to say. The universal themes of friendship, first love, growing up, and resisting injustice are all here and handled with skill. There is quite a bit of violence and humiliation in the film, and even though we are stirred up to see Erik take his vengeance, the director gently pulls away from showing us this half of the equation. I thought that was a very interesting decision, and it elevated this film above being just a more violent Revenge Of The Nerds.
(8.5/10)
Yet more films:
- Possible Worlds - Canadian film directed by Robert Lepage, a well known theatre director. This was an awkward mixture of philosophical “arty” film and B-movie sci-fi schlock. When someone says the line, “They took his brain,” how good can it be? This rates a 6/10
- Loners - From the Czech Republic, where everyone is gorgeous. That’s the impression I was left with. A very sharp, funny film with no particularly deep message. And according to the director, the pot smoked in the film was “mostly real”! This is a solid 7/10.
- The King is Alive - Directed by Kristian Levring, one of the founders of the Dogme 95 movement (ie. filmed entirely on location with digital cameras), this is about a group of tourists who become stranded after their bus breaks down in the North African desert. As starvation looms, they decide to stage a performance of “King Lear.” Great ensemble cast, including Janet McTeer and Jennifer Jason Leigh, although it’s typically Scandinavian (gloomy…) This was an 8/10.
Two films left, and then it’s over for another year.
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