Beasts of No Nation (film)

Beasts of No Nation
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Cary Joji Fukunaga
Produced by	Amy Kaufman Cary Joji Fukunaga Daniela Taplin Lundberg Riva Marker Jeffrey Skoll Daniel Crown Idris Elba Uzodinma Iweala
Screenplay by	Cary Joji Fukunaga
Based on	Beasts of No Nation by Uzodinma Iweala
Starring	Idris Elba Abraham Attah Kurt Egyiawan Jude Akuwudike Emmanuel "King King" Nii Adom Quaye
Music by	Dan Romer
Cinematography	Cary Joji Fukunaga
Edited by	Mikkel E. G. Nielsen Pete Beaudreau
Production companies	Red Crown Productions Primary Productions Parliament of Owls
Distributed by	Bleecker Street Netflix
Release dates	September 3, 2015 (2015-09-03) (Venice) October 16, 2015 (2015-10-16) (Worldwide)
Running time	137 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English Twi
Budget	$6 million[2]

Beasts of No Nation is a 2015 American war drama film written, shot, and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, about a young boy who becomes a child soldier as his country goes through a horrific war. Shot in Ghana and starring Idris Elba, Abraham Attah, Ama K. Abebrese, Grace Nortey, David Dontoh, and Opeyemi Fagbohungbe, the film is based on the 2005 novel of the same name by Uzodinma Iweala^[3] ― the book itself being named after a Fela Kuti album.

It was screened in the main competition section of the 72nd Venice International Film Festival,^[4][5] where it won the Marcello Mastroianni Award.^[6]

The film was shown in the Special Presentation section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival,^[7] and released on Netflix globally and in a limited release by Bleecker Street on October 16, 2015.^[8]

Plot

A civil war is breaking out in an unspecified West African country. A young boy, Agu, lives in a small village with his parents, older brother, and two younger siblings. Agu's village is in a "buffer zone" enforced by ECOMOG troops. Agu's father is a local leader, and aids refugees from the surrounding areas by letting them stay on his land.

The village is informed that the government has fallen, with military-aligned rebels seizing control of the country. With rebel forces headed towards the village, many people flee to the country's capital for safety. Agu's father is able to buy safe transport for his wife and youngest child, but has to stay behind himself with Agu and his eldest son. Rebel and government forces fight in and around Agu's village, the rebel soldiers flee and the government forces round up the remaining villagers thinking they are rebels. As they are about to be executed, Agu's father tells his sons to run, just before being shot.

The two boys try to escape, but Agu's brother is killed. Agu evades capture and escapes into the jungle. After wandering for an unspecified amount of time, he is caught up in a guerrilla skirmish. The NDF, a rising rebel faction in the country, adopts Agu into their ranks. Agu's battalion is led by the Commandant, who takes Agu under his wing. After undergoing a brutal initiation process, Agu becomes a fully-fledged member of the militia.

Agu befriends another young NDF child soldier, Strika, who never speaks. One night, the Commandant summons Agu to his quarters, and rapes him. Strika, another of the Commandant's rape victims, comforts him. Preacher, an older soldier, gives Agu brown-brown to lift his mood. Agu and Strika take part in a number of bloody battles and ambushes. The battalion's success in the taking of several towns, killing hundreds of men, women and children, gains them a summons to the rebel HQ, where the Commandant, accompanied by Agu, Strika, and a few other members of the battalion, go to meet with the NDF leader. They spend an entire night in the waiting area, infuriating the Commandant. When they finally meet the Supreme Commander, he informs the Commandant that he is not being promoted, as he had expected, and is in fact being removed from command. The Commandant's lieutenant will take control of the battalion, and the Commandant will be given a staff position under the rebel leader. The Commandant views this as an insult, and leaves to "celebrate" his lieutenant's promotion at a brothel. While the soldiers (except for Agu and Strika) spend the night with the brothel's women, one of the women shoots the lieutenant. The lieutenant is badly wounded and the Commandant accuses the prostitute of trying to kill the Lieutenant. The prostitute pleads with the Commandant and says she shot the lieutenant by accident, but the Commandant and his men shoot the women and leave the city with the battalion.

Now on the run from their own faction, as well as the UN and government forces, the battalion suffers heavy losses. Airstrikes and supply shortages kill many of them, with Strika being killed by a gunshot during an ambush. The remaining members of the battalion take shelter at a gold mine for several months, hoping to find gold to pay for supplies. Ammunition runs out, leaving the group with no way to defend themselves from encroaching enemy forces. Agu informs the Commandant of this, and he tells Agu that he must take care of him, as all sons must protect their fathers. As they speak, Preacher, now the new lieutenant, rallies the soldiers to abandon their posts and surrender to the UN, as they will surely starve or be killed if they stay. The Commandant at first refuses to let them go, but relents when Agu says they should surrender. The soldiers all depart, leaving the raving Commandant alone. Shortly after, they are detained by UN troops. The younger members of the battalion are sent to a missionary school in a safe part of the country. Agu stays away from the other children, who play games and enjoy the comfort and safety of the school. Agu is tormented by what has happened, and has nightmares about it.

After much time has passed, Agu tells the school's counselor that he has done some terrible things but he won't go into detail. He is afraid the counselor will think he is some kind of "beast." Instead he tells how he used to be a good boy, from a good family, and that his family had loved him. The final scene shows Agu finally joining the other boys as they swim and play in the ocean.

Cast

• Abraham Attah as Agu
• Idris Elba as Commandant
• Ama K. Abebrese as Mother^[9]
• Kobina Amissa-Sam as Father^[9]
• Emmanuel Nii Adom Quaye as Strika
• Kurt Egyiawan as 2nd I-C
• Jude Akuwudike as Dada Goodblood
• Grace Nortey^[9] as Old Witch Woman
• David Dontoh as Linguist^[9]
• Opeyemi Fagbohungbe as Sergeant Gaz^[10]
• Teibu Owusu Acheampong as Preacher^[9]

Production

Cary Fukunaga directed his own script, after having worked on it for seven years.^[3] It was not until after six years of research on the Sierra Leone Civil War that Fukunaga came across the Beasts of No Nation novel. He told Creative Screenwriting, "I read through the novel and I loved the elegant and concise way that Uzodinma Iweala told the story. I felt that would be the best way to enter the subject."^[11]

On August 20, 2013, Idris Elba joined the cast of the film adaptation.^[3] On June 6, 2014, Ghanaian actors Ama K. Abebrese, Grace Nortey and David Dontoh joined the film.^[9] Later, Opeyemi Fagbohungbe also joined the cast.^[10]

Red Crown Productions was the financier and producer, along with Primary Productions and Parliament of Owls.^[3] On May 17, 2014, Participant Media, along with Mammoth Entertainment, came on board to co-finance the film, initially budgeted at $4.3 million but which ultimately cost about $6 million.^[2]

On June 5, 2014, principal photography was underway in the Eastern Region of Ghana.^[9][12][13] The film was shot at locations in Koforidua and Ezile Bay at Akwidaa.^[14] Dan Romer scored the film.^[15]

Release

Netflix bought the worldwide distribution rights for around $12 million. The film was simultaneously released theatrically and online through its subscription video on demand service on October 16, 2015,^[16] with Bleecker Street handling the theatrical release.^[17] Considering the online release a violation of the traditional 90-day release window of exclusivity to theatres, AMC Cinemas, Carmike Cinemas, Cinemark, and Regal Entertainment Group—four of the largest theater chains in the United States—announced that they would boycott Beasts of No Nation, effectively downgrading it to a limited release at smaller and independent theatres.^[8][18] The film was also theatrically released in the UK on October 16, 2015, in Curzon Cinemas.^[19]

Critical reception

Beasts of No Nation has received critical acclaim, with particular praise for the performances of Elba and Attah. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 92%, based on 112 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Beasts of No Nation finds writer-director Cary Fukunaga working with a talented cast to offer a sobering, uncompromising, yet still somehow hopeful picture of war's human cost."^[20] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 79 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews".^[21] Idris Elba won the SAG award for his supporting performance becoming the first movie actor to win a SAG award without being nominated for an Oscar.^[22]

Controversy

In 2013, Artnet published an article suggesting that Fukunaga appropriated content without crediting the work of Irish artist Richard Mosse^[23] for his work in infrared photography.

Accolades

References

External links

• Beasts of No Nation on Netflix
• Beasts of No Nation at the Internet Movie Database
• Beasts of No Nation at Rotten Tomatoes
• Beasts of No Nation at Metacritic