No One Is Born A Beast

Rating: 8/10 (17 October 2015)

When the film was released on Netflix I couldn't help myself but watch it immediately. This brave, powerful and intense motion picture transmits real and genuine images and is a piece of brilliance.
"Beasts of No Nation" tells the story of a young and innocent boy called "Agu" who lives under poor circumstances in a not-mentioned African country. The brutal civil war takes away his family and Agu suddenly finds himself in a group of child soldiers and becomes one of them. Throughout the movie the protagonist gets confronted with the meaning of death, morality and immorality and value of family and unity.
There is plenty to say and discuss about this stunning movie which is one aspect of the film I loved; it provokes the viewer's mind and dramatizes a huge issue that deserves awareness and importance. Children used for violence and criminal causes are an ongoing topic and happens right now and I doubt that I have to discuss whether this is right or wrong. Personally, I had to remind myself more than once that what I see on screen might be happening at this very moment.
The movie is perfectly depicting the ugly truth of war. Furthermore, it is shown how easy it is to manipulate a kid's mind and make them do anything by encouraging them, supporting/nurturing the wrong side of the human nature (violence), giving them a feel of brotherhood/unity/affiliation and partly by the usage of drugs to stimulate their senses and conciseness. The "soldiers" we are talking about are innocent children and not grownups. I enjoyed how the film bluntly confronted me with the obnoxious and horrific reality in a very atmospheric and intense way.
Although the movie relied heavily on the pictures we see, it contained beautiful writing, too. The main characters (the aforementioned Agu and the Commandant) are greatly written. They are genuine and show a lot of depth. One feels really connected and bonded to Agu, especially because of his innocence. He is just a normal boy having fun on the streets and enjoying time with his family, but when his father and brother are killed he must flee and ends up in that horrible army of underage soldiers. I call that great writing. In addition, the story contains a lot of irony which is always exciting to watch.
There are more reasons why the writing was stupendous. It was very well paced. You never felt boredom. The scenes were never too long or too short, it was perfectly timed. The movie never was dragging or moving too fast. You were hooked.
Naturally, a good character needs to be portrayed well, too. Abraham Attah plays the role of the protagonist. Agu is not the most complex character, but Attah delivers a more than solid performance (I also consider it very difficult to work with young actors, thus I respect the performance even more and rate it higher). Additionally, the acting of the children in the army was great, too. They reminded me of a wild pack of savages or animals and totally fulfilled their respective roles.
But the star of this movie clearly is Idris Elba. Wow - I cannot find words to describe how good he was. He absolutely stood out of the movie regarding acting. Despite knowing his name and face I have never seen a movie in which Elba had a significant role (except Thor) and neither have I watched "Luther", but now I definitely know what an incredible actor he is. Idris Elba plays the Commandant of the army and is a highly respected man amongst them and gets along well with everyone. You shouldn't like him at all because of the horrible situation, but Elba yet manages it to let the audience feel sympathy for him. As the movie moves on, we discover that "The Commandant" isn't quite the man we supposed him to be. He is a man who has an unhealthy abundance of pride and the urge to gain more power which eventually leaves him all alone. He is not a leader, he is a reckless ruler led by bad intentions.
Currently, I see Idris Elba amongst one of the biggest contenders for the "Best Supporting Actor" award and wish him lots of luck.
Another outstanding element of the movie is the cinematography. There are sundry shots that make you wonder what one person can do with a single camera and a vision.
Cary Joji Fukunga was not only responsible for the movie's spectacular cinematography, but he also wrote and directed this marvelous motion picture. This man is a genius, as simple as that. I consider him as one of the biggest aspiring filmmakers for the future, although he already has impressed me in the past with his contribution as director for the show "True Detective" (Season 1). I am looking forward to watch his other movies.
The only negative aspects I can mention are the following two: The climax partly disappointed me regarding how good the rest of this movie was (maybe the slight lack of suspense was the reason). Secondly, the movie underwent a few clichés in the "war-genre" (i.e. the protagonist having to kill someone for the first time although he is aware of the moral conflict). Other than that I did not find any other striking negatives.
In conclusion, "Beasts of No Nation" is one of the best movies you will see this year and definitely worth watching. The cinematography, the writing, the acting and the topic are either good or extraordinary. Judging out of my own perspective, it has been a unique experience and I can only recommend the movie. 8/10