Beasts of No Nation (9/10): Netflix's first original film makes some noise!

“We are just like wild animals now, with no place to be going. Sun, why are you shining at this world? I am wanting to catch you in my hands, to squeeze you until you can not shine no more. That way, everything is always dark and nobody's ever having to see all the terrible things that are happening here.”

Netflix’s first original film couldn’t have made a larger impact on me. It is one of my favorite films of the year so far. Set in an unnamed West African country, director Cary Fukunaga, takes us through the turmoils of war as we experience it through the eyes of a young child who is forced to become a soldier. The script perfectly captures this young character, named Agu (Abraham Attah), as we witness the transformation he goes through from a sweet and innocent young boy to a fearless and brutal soldier. He is the narrator of the film, and I must say the script written by Fukunaga himself is very gripping. There have been many films tackling the terrible subject matter of child soldiers in Africa, but I don’t think any of them have been handled with the grace that this script does here. It never feels forced or manipulative. We aren’t forced to sympathize with these characters or feel sorry for them because everything evolves very naturally. Fukunaga detaches us from those basic human emotions and simply lets us witness Agu’s horrifying story. The film captures the horrors of war with a lot of detail, but at the same time it contrasts with the beautiful landscape that surrounds the country. It is a film of two contrasting emotions facing off each other, on the one hand there are many horrors, but on the other there is a sense of hope. Despite all the horrifying things going on we are always left with a sense of hope that something good can come out of it all. The cinematography in this film is breathtaking and I simply fell in love with the imagery here. 

There are several things that stood out for me in this film. First of all, Beasts of No Nation further solidifies my claim that Fukunaga is one of the most talented young directors working today. I was blown away with his 2009 feature film, Sin Nombre, which centered on a Guatemalan teen who was trying to escape his past with a violent gang and flee to America with his girlfriend. Then he surprised me even more with his direction of the first season of True Detective, which was one of the best shows I’ve seen on TV. Beasts of No Nation isn’t just a showcase for Fukunaga as a director, here he proves to be an excellent script writer and cinematographer as well. The film is breathtaking. The other thing that stood out for me was the lead performance from Abraham Attah, and I believe his name should come up when award season arrives because he was simply amazing in this film. He delivers a completely believable and mesmerizing performance and we sympathize with him despite the transformation he goes through. He does some terrible things in the film, but there is still a sense that he hasn’t entirely lost his soul and that somehow that innocent child wants to come out again. His performance in the final scene is the best I’ve seen this year. Then there is also the incredible performance from Idris Elba as the rebel Commandant. These leaders have always been captured on screen as fearless and terrible men, the Commandant is all those things, but somehow Elba also manages to bring charisma to his character. There is something about him that attracts these men to follow him and basically do anything he asks of them. Elba will surely receive a lot of attention during the award season as well. I’m even hoping for Fukunaga to not be overlooked when the time comes because he has crafted a mesmerizing film that will be hard to shake off.       

My Review: Sin Nombre (8/10)

¨I went with a friend to visit a neighbor, an old woman named Doña Eleanor, a psychic. She said: You will make it to the USA, not in God`s hands, but in those of the devil.¨

(8/10) Sin Nombre is one of the best foreign language films of the year about gangster life in the south of Mexico and immigration to the United States. Most Mexican movies deal with immigration since it is one of their major concerns and that can get old at times, but this movie feels fresh because it mixes both issues and deals with them in a realistic manner. Director and writer Cary Fukunagra researched immigrant and gangster life in Central America before deciding to make this movie so it has a very real and raw feeling to it. Sin Nombre, which translated literally means Without Name, takes us through a journey across Mexico while at the same time focusing on a gangster group called La Mara Salvatrucha. There are two parallel stories that intertwine together midpoint through the movie so it is not like they are dealing with two separate stories. La Mara is a very violent gang so the movie has a lot of action and violence that goes along perfectly with the drama of the family that is trying to cross the border to the States. This movie reminded me a lot of Fernando Meirelle`s Ciudad de Dios (City of God) because it focuses on real and harsh social issues mixing drama with violence.

Sin Nombre begins telling two separate stories that will later intertwine. First we are introduced to El Caspar (played by Edgar Flores), a gang member of la Mara Salvatrucha. He is recruiting a young friend of his to form part of the gang; his name is Benito (Kristyan Ferrer). In order to be part of the Mara he has to go through several punishments. The leader of the gang is Lil Mago (Tenoch Huerta Mejia) and he has a very distinguished look (an MS tattoo that covers most of his face). Most of the gang members have tattoos all over their body so they are easily identified. They are a very united group and their job is to keep other gangs out of their city and at the same time they share everything they steal. Lil Mago realizes that something has been distracting Caspar lately and he has missed several meetings. The reason is that Caspar has a girlfriend that he hasn`t told his gang about and he visits her whenever he has a chance. Her name is Martha Marlen (played by the beautiful Mexican model Diana Garcia) and she is upset that he doesn`t introduce her to his friends, thus starting quite a conflict. The other story takes place in Tegucigalpa, Honduras (a country south of Mexico) where Sayra (played by Paulina Gaitan) is about to meet her dad who had left the country several years ago and has returned after being deported from the United States. Her dad is planning on returning to the States and he is going to take his brother and daughter with him. It is going to be a long and dangerous journey but they are willing to take the risk. First they have to cross Mexico and that is where they later encounter Lil Mago, Caspar, and Benito so the plot develops from that point on.

Edgar Flores gives a great performance as Caspar. He really carried the movie and showed a lot of potential as an actor. The real success of the movie however is the way the story is told and how the two separate stories come together midway during the movie. The cinematography was also incredible and the scenery was beautiful. The scenes where the immigrants are waiting for the train and risk going several days without food or water felt so real and the gangster lifestyle also had true authenticity. Director Fukunagra created an excellent film that was true to Mexican culture. He even made sure the gang slangs were authentic by working with two gang members while writing the script. None of the actors were really famous, but they all did an excellent job of portraying their characters. The movie was powerful, shocking, and thought provoking and those are always positive reactions. However don`t expect this to be your typical feel good movie because you will leave disappointed. The true aim of this film is to depict these social issues in a realistic manner and Sin Nombre achieves this. I highly recommend this movie although it may put some people off because it is in Spanish, but it is a fair portrayal of gangster life and immigration.