War Witch: Great Film, Best New Talent So Far

War Witch (or Rebelle, as I saw it at the Toronto Film Festival) is probably the best Canadian film I've ever seen. For me as a fellow countryman, Canada needs to produce more films like this—universal stories with international appeal, not solely about farming, hockey, or curling. In fact, if you didn't already know that War Witch is Canadian, you probably would have had no idea from watching it, as it is set in the Congo and all the actors (despite mostly coming from Montreal) speak the native language.

I could talk all day about my Canadian pride bursting forth from War Witch, but much more important to discuss is simply how excellent the film is; ripe with power, emotion, brutally violent honesty, and a penchant for the slightly supernatural. There are some truly harrowing and disturbing moments, but the film also contains a (dark) comedic appeal, and a long 20 minute segment halfway through the film is both funny, romantic, and whimsical. War Witch was nominated for the Best Foriegn Film Oscar this year, and although we all knew Amour would claim the prize I actually think War Witch is the stronger film overall.

The narrative follows a 12 year old girl (the movie counts down the years until she's 15) who is violently stolen from her village along with the other children, and brainwashed into becoming a child soldier for the Congo army. Because she is prone to "visions," the men label her a lucky witch, and we see the effect this has on the young woman. War Witch doesn't give any pre-conceived notions of lightness; the very first scene of the movie is the attack on the village, where the girl is forced to murder her own parents.

But as I said earlier, the film doesn't remain this bleak and depressing throughout. Midway through, a young Albino boy named Magician falls for her, and they escape and try to find a white rooster so he can marry her. These scenes may drag a little, but they're important in establishing that even sociopathic soldiers have feelings, emotions, and can indeed laugh in silly situations. It's an important point to make, especially when dealing with the ramifications of children being forced (under punishment of torture or death) into this maniacal army. The fact that it's a practice still seen throughout the world adds to the nightmarish qualities of War Witch.

The lead performance is by Rachel Mwuanza. To say it's a stunning achievement in movie acting doesn't quite do her justice. Despite being a homeless 11 year old before filming began, she shows an instinctive prowess that is really quite incredible—the young girl nominated for Best Actress in Beasts of the Southern Wild may have had more publicity, but I think Mwuanza is even better. The supporting cast of Montreal thespians are all excellent as well, but it's Mwuanza that gives the film a haunting voice (Funny side note: the director said that she was so inexperienced in the film world that when she won Best Actress at Cannes and Jake Gylenhall presented the award to her, she later asked her mom "Who was that guy?")

The screenplay isn't perfect. I mentioned the slightly flabby quality of the middle section, but I also thought it was a poor decision to show, in the beginning, just how rapidly the children succumbed to the Army's pressure. We all know that these kids are tortured, mentally and physically, into becoming murderers. But War Witch surprisingly skimps on showing this, and in actuality, the transitions are so quick that we only see the kids being occasionally whipped during a long walk, and then they are all suddenly fine with being taken from their homes and prepared to kill. It's just about the only white-wash apparent in the film (not that I wanted to see violence done to kids, of course — I just found it jarring to be lacking these scenes).

Other than that, however, War Witch is a marvelous flick; a true triumph of independent filmmaking, Canadian direction, and an important story viscerally told. It's incredibly violent and disturbing, yes—an important beheading and genital mutilation are almost unbearable to watch. But if you can stomach it, War Witch is just about the best film you can see in the doldrums of the post-Oscar season.