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 Beasts of No Nation is Cary Joji Fukunaga's third feature length film. It tells the story of Agu, a young boy in a nameless African nation who becomes a child soldier fighting under the command of Commandant, played by Idris Elba. The film is also Netflix's first feature-length narrative project (they distributed it after purchasing the rights at Sundance), and it was released simultaneously on their streaming service and in a few theaters. Fukanaga is best known for directing the first season of True Detective and the film Sin Nombre. Idris Elba was a main actor in The Wire and, um, Pacific Rim. The rest of the cast are almost all entirely unknown or first-time actors. Trailer can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xb9Ty-1frw centaurtainment fucked around with this message at 20:50 on Oct 19, 2015 |
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Oct 19, 2015 01:46
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Finished this today. It's hugely depressing. It also puts the rest any doubt that Fukanaga was the missing element in this season's true detective.
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Oct 19, 2015 01:58
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It's definitely a massive downer of a film, even more so than Sin Nombre, which ended with at least some glimmer of hope. The cinematography in Beasts of No Nation was incredible: the brutal color palette (all red, green, and brown), the gorgeous shots of the natural world into which the humans disappear like, yes, beasts, and the deliberate editing were all top-notch.Kawasaki Nun posted:It also puts the rest any doubt that Fukanaga was the missing element in this season's true detective. Indeed.
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Oct 19, 2015 02:31
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As I understand it, Netflix merely bought the rights to the film -- they didn't produce it from the ground up. Netflix basically acted like a typical movie studio that buys a film at a film festival. I liked it quite a bit. I was reluctant to watch it as I expected it to be heavy and violent and kind of depressing -- it's certainly those things, but it helped that the film ends on a hopeful note. Some sequences and scenes are reminiscent of Terrence Malick's films.
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Oct 19, 2015 04:40
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I liked that brief shot in infrared. IR photography was a mainstay of military intelligence because foliage and the like would reflect certain wavelengths that men and materiel wouldn't, giving sharper contrast. It also looks unearthly:  
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Oct 19, 2015 05:00
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I thought this movie was pretty good. I didn't think there was anything too deep going on thematically, but sometimes its fine just to have a really solid character piece. It was as pretty as it was depressing, which was exceptionally so in both categories.
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Oct 19, 2015 05:20
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I've been waiting for this movie for a while, and I wasn't let down. Gorgeous cinematography and directing, not to mention the incredible acting. This is not a movie for the weak of heart. There is some super gruesome scenes but overall I think everyone on earth should watch this. It's important stuff. It's funny to think the budget of this movie was only $6 million, yet Jack and Jill's budget was $79 million.
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Oct 19, 2015 07:11
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star trek posted:I've been waiting for this movie for a while, and I wasn't let down. Gorgeous cinematography and directing, not to mention the incredible acting. This is not a movie for the weak of heart. There is some super gruesome scenes but overall I think everyone on earth should watch this. It's important stuff. It's funny to think the budget of this movie was only $6 million, yet Jack and Jill's budget was $79 million. Or, on a more related note, $34 million less than Blended's budget proving that one can make a movie set in Africa without funding Adam Sandler's vacations. This movie was made more profoundly sad with the added knowledge that this kind of thing happens all of the time all around the world. By just knowing the plot of the movie you should have a pretty good idea of everything you're going to encounter with this movie, but that fact does nothing to lessen the impact of what you see. This should be a required viewing experience for everyone.
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Oct 19, 2015 14:31
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I feel like I need to go back and watch Johnny Mad Dog so I can more adequately compare the two.
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Oct 19, 2015 15:38
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Good but depressing movie.
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Oct 19, 2015 20:12
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Agu's actor deserves an Oscar nomination. Could this even be considered for Oscars since Netflix distributed it?
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Oct 19, 2015 22:06
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SeANMcBAY posted:Could this even be considered for Oscars since Netflix distributed it? Yes, it had a limited theatrical release that may have been expressly for this purpose.
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Oct 19, 2015 22:14
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Gaunab posted:Good but depressing movie. It honestly wasn't that depressing although hosed up things happen in it that will emotionally impact you. Remember that WW2 tank movie starring Brad Pitt titled "Fury" that came out last year? That was a movie I turned off after 20 minutes because I found it too harrowing and revolting...yet I got through "Beasts of No Nation" no problem. I think the issue here is people are (understandably) immediately looking at the subject matter (Africa, war, boy soldiers) and immediately thinking it's a film that will be super-depressing and sad. It is those things to a certain extent but not as much as you'd expect. What struck me most was its elegiac flow and striking visuals more than the war porn.
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Oct 19, 2015 23:13
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Is 20 minutes into Fury before or after Brad Pitt shoots a child in the head? It's been a while since I've seen it.
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Oct 20, 2015 05:12
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Raxivace posted:Is 20 minutes into Fury before or after Brad Pitt shoots a child in the head? It's been a while since I've seen it. The first thing that grossed me out was the opening scene of the German soldier on the horse getting stabbed in the head. It felt disturbingly real. The second thing that grossed me out was the remnants of that solder's discernible face on the floor of the tank I turned the film off after that. Nothing as bad as those things in "Beasts of No Nation" though atrocities are depicted.
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Oct 20, 2015 05:38
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The scene in Beasts of No Nation that struck me as the most emotionally involving was Striker's death sequence...the revelation of the bullet in his ribs, Agu carrying him on his back, Striker dying and Agu trying to nudge him back to life while saying his name. I want to watch this film again a few months down the road.
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Oct 20, 2015 05:46
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yeah that sequence was excellent, it hit me with a lot of parallels between what we usually/expect to see and what happens, and then also what happens when you're just a kid stuck into the spot which would be filled by some bruce willis type action hero but nope, fuckin war mon
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Oct 20, 2015 06:24
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I didnt think anything in Fury was anywhere near as hosed up as the brown-brown fueled toddler stomp rape murder. Strikas death was all empathy for Agus loss for me.
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Oct 20, 2015 08:52
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SeANMcBAY posted:Agu's actor deserves an Oscar nomination. Yeah he was absolutely amazing. starry skies above posted:Nothing as bad as those things in "Beasts of No Nation" though atrocities are depicted. You weren't affected when the Commander ordered Agu to slice open the engineer's head with a machete?
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Oct 20, 2015 14:32
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Yeah, I can't remember anything in Fury as bad as Agu getting raped by the commandant and the brown brown fueled toddler stomp and rape. And a lot of it feels worse because it's kids being manipulated.
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Oct 20, 2015 14:44
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Fury felt way too much of a Stereotypical "tough-guy" war movie especially the ridiculous sex scene. Beasts was good and I'm unsure if I'd call it "great" but goddamn when Abu said God, are you watching what we are doing? I got the feels hard  I'm curious does it relate to any actual conflicts in Africa or is it complete fiction?
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Oct 20, 2015 19:22
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There is no sex scene in Fury.
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Oct 20, 2015 19:25
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At the risk of sounding like an internet tough guy I thought the aforementioned scenes in this movie were incredibly tame. Some good lookin' shots here and there, some sad moments. But otherwise something about it never really gripped me. I'll have to watch it again in the future, but as of now I really can't say I enjoyed it.
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Oct 20, 2015 19:37
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HUNDU THE BEAST GOD posted:There is no sex scene in Fury. There isn't actually banging on-screen but it's clear that Norman spent time with Emma.
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Oct 20, 2015 19:38
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Tab8715 posted:I'm curious does it relate to any actual conflicts in Africa or is it complete fiction? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Boys_Unit, by the way.
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Oct 20, 2015 19:40
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There was a comma in the URL that made it go to the wrong page.
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Oct 20, 2015 21:53
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I think the actual setting is left ambiguous in the book as well, though the cadence of the language is really similar to a few Nigerian dialects (which might just be because the author is Nigerian). It definitely seems to be borrowing from a few different conflicts - the civil war in Sierra Leone, as Hundu pointed out, and also the conflict in Liberia. There's a guy that you see a few times walking around bare naked and he is probably meant to be a sort of nod to General Butt Naked, who led a brigade of child soldiers and thought being naked or wearing brightly colored clothing served as protection from bullets. The ritual scene where they drug the kids and make them think their clothing protects them from bullets was something that happened pretty commonly in Uganda, Sierra Leone, and Liberia.
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Oct 20, 2015 21:57
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Gaunab posted:There was a comma in the URL that made it go to the wrong page. My bad. Grizzled Patriarch posted:The ritual scene where they drug the kids and make them think their clothing protects them from bullets was something that happened pretty commonly in Uganda, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. And in Congo. The only thing missing from the checklist is Central African-style messianic Christianity.
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Oct 20, 2015 22:07
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HUNDU THE BEAST GOD posted:My bad. The treatment of Christianity in this film is pretty interesting, given how many former generals / combatants ended up converting (and in Butt Naked's case, becoming the president of an evangelical group) after the conflicts simmered down. Reminded me a bit of The Thin Red Line.
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Oct 20, 2015 22:18
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Tab8715 posted:There isn't actually banging on-screen but it's clear that Norman spent time with Emma. It's also kind of rapey. Also the whole film looked like it wanted to have its cake and eat it too in terms of "war/violence bad". Really looking forward to this one, in any case. Hope there'll be another long take shootout scene here. 
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Oct 21, 2015 00:16
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That's a pretty committed misunderstanding of Fury.
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Oct 21, 2015 00:35
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HUNDU THE BEAST GOD posted:That's a pretty committed misunderstanding of Fury. Two young women are having their home forcibly occupied by a couple of invading foreign soldiers, watched their comrades execute German soldiers in the street, and have know idea what they are capable of. In the words of Dennis Reynolds, she's not gonna say no -- because of the implication.
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Oct 21, 2015 00:53
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That sounds like the opposite of having its cake and eating it too, or a simple narrative about how war is bad. The full ambiguity of the film is all in that scene.
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Oct 21, 2015 01:28
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The rape of Agu in Beasts of No Nation is implied and functions via a similar (though not the same) power dynamic as the one in Fury. There are a lot of problems with that scene in Fury, but they have to do with class as well as gender. ANYWAY, what did people think of the long takes in Beasts?
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Oct 21, 2015 01:37
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centaurtainment posted:The rape of Agu in Beasts of No Nation is implied and functions via a similar (though not the same) power dynamic as the one in Fury. Yeah, of Wardaddy to Machine. In fact, there's a much more intimate and explicit scene with those two exploiting that power dynamic. quote:There are a lot of problems with that scene in Fury, but they have to do with class as well as gender. The one in the courtyard knocked my socks off.
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Oct 21, 2015 01:51
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centaurtainment posted:The rape of Agu in Beasts of No Nation is implied and functions via a similar (though not the same) power dynamic as the one in Fury. There are a lot of problems with that scene in Fury, but they have to do with class as well as gender. i don't have a problem with a lot of stuff in movies these days, but that whole extended scene in Fury made me feel gross and not in a good way. but yeah, long takes in Beasts were incredible. i spent the whole movie waiting to see who the D.P. was and was pretty blown away that it was Fukunaga himself. True Detective had some of the best cinematography i've seen in a long time, TV or feature film, but he was working with Adam Arkapaw on that one who was already establishing himself as a dynamite new cinematographer at that point. but clearly Fukunaga's visual sense goes beyond just the directorial. i haven't seen very many new movies this year, but this one has supplanted Sicario as my clear choice for #1 so far.
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Oct 21, 2015 01:56
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Uncle Boogeyman posted:but yeah, long takes in Beasts were incredible. I loved the courtyard shot and I think the one that followed Agu down the trench was even better; it was the perfect marriage of the long take to the action taking place, much like the one in the first season of True Detective.
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Oct 21, 2015 02:00
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Uncle Boogeyman posted:but yeah, long takes in Beasts were incredible. i spent the whole movie waiting to see who the D.P. was and was pretty blown away that it was Fukunaga himself. True Detective had some of the best cinematography i've seen in a long time, TV or feature film, but he was working with Adam Arkapaw on that one who was already establishing himself as a dynamite new cinematographer at that point. but clearly Fukunaga's visual sense goes beyond just the directorial. He only ended up as DP (or at least camera operator) after the original guy got injured on literally the second take of the first scene they shot. Worked out, though 
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Oct 21, 2015 03:43
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This movie is really incredible, especially considering that many of the child actors were completely untrained locals and some were homeless prior to being cast. Visually I feel like there were several nods to Apocalypse Now. Also the naked guy's name is Tripod 
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Oct 21, 2015 03:47
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centaurtainment posted:ANYWAY, what did people think of the long takes in Beasts?
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Oct 21, 2015 04:02
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