| Watch this movie: War/Dance [trailer] | |
This movie angered me, possibly broke a small piece of my heart and filled me with hope and awe over the power of music.
Set in Northern Uganda, a country ravaged by more than two decades of civil war, WAR/DANCE tells the story of Dominic, Rose, and Nancy, three children whose families have been torn apart, their homes destroyed, and who currently reside in a displaced persons camp in Patongo. When they are invited to compete in an annual music and dance competition, their historic journey to their nation’s capital is also an opportunity to regain a part of their childhood and to taste victory for the first time in their lives.
14 year old Dominic had this to say in the opening minutes of the film [which was also beautifully shot on location] on the importance of music:
In our daily lives their must be music. In everything we do, if there is music, life becomes good. That’s why I want to be part of music.
Watch the film and tell me you wouldn’t want to grab that kid [or any of them in the film] and hug the hell out of him and then have a mad jam!
The film reminds me of Daniel Levitin’s book, This is Your Brain on Music, from which the following quote comes from:
No known human culture now or anytime in the recorded past lacked music.
There is something universal and powerful about music and I feel fortunate enough to be part of it (and also not to have endured what these children and their families have).
I don’t want to give too much of the movie away but here is just one example of what these children have been left to deal with [copied from PopMatters review of the film):
The film illustrates a story told by Rose, a singer. Initially, the camera takes her point of view, running through a field in the sunlight, her hand trailing over the tall grasses. This pleasant perception is interrupted when Rose recalls LRA soldiers taking her to see a large pot, near a “big tree” swarmed by ants and flies: “It was so ugly,” she says, as the camera shows close-ups of bugs. “The soldiers,” she says, “removed heads one by one from the pot. I recognized my parents. When I saw my mother’s head being pulled from the pot, I felt like I was losing my mind… There is nothing more I can say.”
You really should see this movie.
Kudos to Th!nk Films for producing the movies they do - high quality productions that entertain while making you think and are almost guaranteed to get a response of some sort from you.
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