War Witch (2013)
Average Rating: 8/10
Reviews Counted: 47
Fresh: 45 | Rotten: 2
War Witch is a mature, intense drama that embraces the bruatlity of its subject and invites the audience to sympathize with its protagonist's nightmarish circumstances.
Average Rating: 8.3/10
Critic Reviews: 16
Fresh: 16 | Rotten: 0
War Witch is a mature, intense drama that embraces the bruatlity of its subject and invites the audience to sympathize with its protagonist's nightmarish circumstances.
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Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 2,432
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Movie Info
Montreal-based filmmaker Kim Nguyen paints a poignant and harrowing portrait of Komona, a 14-year-old girl (wonderfully played by nonprofessional actress Rachel Mwanza) who has been kidnapped from her African village by rebels to become a child soldier. She escapes from the camp with an older albino soldier and experiences for the very first time the joys of a peaceful and loving life, but a fresh tragedy will force her to confront and fight the ghosts haunting her mind. Although inspired by a
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Cast
-
Rachel Mwanza
Komona -
Alain Bastien
Rebel Lieutenant -
Serge Kanyinda
Magician -
Ralph Prosper
The Butcher -
Mizinga Mwinga
Great Tiger -
Jean Kabuya
School Camp Coach -
Jupiter Bokondji
Great Tiger's Sorcerer -
Starlette Mathata
Komona's Mother -
Alex Herabo
Komona's Father -
Dole Malalou
Coltan Dealer -
Karim Bamaraki
Biker -
Sephora Francoise
Butcher's Mother -
Jonathan Kombe
Kind Policeman -
Marie Dilou
Exorcist -
Gauna Gau
Brawny Albino -
Renate Wembo
Clinic Nurse -
Alexi Sabwe
Worrying Man in Clinic -
Nicolas Fransolet
NGO Man -
Kazadi Zadio
Strong Man -
Bonaventure Kabama
Laughing Farmer -
Angele Okito
Laughing Farmer's Wife -
Agnes Mujinga
Old Woman in Truck -
Moise Ilunga
Hearse Driver -
Jordan N'Tunga
Jordan -
Diplome Amekindra
Great Tiger's Guard -
Papa Michel
Kid Soldier School -
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All Critics (47) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (45) | Rotten (2)
Canadian writer-director Kim Nguyen spent nearly a decade researching this docudrama about child soldiers in Africa, and the film feels as authoritative as a first-hand account.
Top CriticA haunting take on unspeakably grim subject matter, shot on location in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
A powerful and upsetting portrait of a young girl compelled into unimaginably horrific circumstances.
Nguyen, astonishingly, manages to wring something vaguely like a happy ending from this tragic story.
War Witch is most effective not when we are looking in on Komona but when we are inside her head.
The powerful things we expect from "War Witch" are as advertised, but what we don't expect is even better.
... driven by a remarkably natural, unaffected performance by Mwanza. And Nguyen, despite relying a little too heavily on the initial voice-over for exposition, is a confident and sensitive intelligence behind the camera.
You're likely to ponder its images, its insights into a very foreign (for most of us) location and the tragic situation of Komona (and others like her) for a long time to come.
Is it accurate depiction of Africa's child soldiers? I don't know, thank God. But it feels authentic to its very core, and that makes it as hard to forget as it is to ignore.
Brutal without turning exploitative, the result is harrowing and heartbreaking.
Nguyen creates a mesmerizing tone through his camerawork, editing, sound and the infusion of African folk imagery and ritual, but it's Mwanza's performance as Komona that makes "War Witch" feel so miraculous.
Nguyen reportedly worked on "War Witch" for a decade, and it shows in both the immediacy and authenticity of his tale, and the meticulous craft with which it's told.
Made with extremely clear-eyed restraint from harangues, sentiment, message-mongering, or anything else that would cheapen its central character's suffering and fight.
War Witch features a standout performance by Rachel Mwanza, but the supernatural visions don't really suit the film's tone and mood.
Nguyen's compassion and commitment to the issue is admirable, and at its best, War Witch is devastating.
War Witch is remarkable for the fact that it never strays into sentimentality or sensationalism.
...a love story between youngsters who are forced to become adults all too early in their lives.
This is a straight ahead essay on warfare at its worst and the survival of the human spirit at its best.
An astonishing drama set in Africa that vividly depicts the courage and resiliency of a 12-year-old girl whose spiritual gifts enable her to survive.
It is astonishing that film that contains such violence can have such a serene tone. The source of the serenity is the measured, calm narration by Komona (voice of Diane Umawahoro) that is the telling of her story to her unborn child
An exquisitely made film in direct contrast to the ugliness of its subject matter
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Foreign Titles
- Rebelle (DE)
- War Witch (UK)
