Heart of Fire

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09/25/2012 Really liked it - fictional account of a young girl caught up in war and her fight for survival. Sad, but inspiring. See more 07/28/2010 Worthy but unconvincing movie about child soldiers in one of the rival factions (the losing one) in the complexity of the Eritrean war of independence against Ethiopia. The heroine, a little girl in a red dress, Awet (Letekidan Micael) fails to become radicalised by her comrades and holds on to the humanitarian values taught her by the nuns in her orphanage in Asmara. Perhaps Eritrea was different from sub-Saharan Africa, but Awet's experiences with a relatively benign bunch of socialist soldiers certainly have none of the horror which I associate with the experience of African child soldiers. It might have been near-unwatchable if it had. Perhaps what is conveyed is how easily people can slide into conflict when they are basically on the same side (the Irish Civil War of 1922-23 which killed more people than their War of Independence perhaps illustrates this). The ease with which Awet and her sister join up may well be telling too - their father hands them over to the local commander "I am too old to fight but these are now Daughters of Eritrea". Watch it though for little Letekidan Micael's fine performance as a child wise beyond her years. The trouble is that real child soldiers (like real grown-up soldiers) aren't. They merely have seen, and perhaps done, too much. See more 06/27/2010 The lead role is so young and yet plays so well just shows you how the early stages in life are important highlight this war as well See more 10/05/2009 This is no fairy tale. Children's lives are sacre in the western world; whereas they are the provider of manpower here... It is a story that is still very much a norm in part of africa. A simple portrait of the world... violent and innocent alike. See more Mike M 09/20/2009 Exists in the sentimental mode of certain European productions of the 1990s ("Kolya", "The Thief") which sought to simplify seismic political shifts for wide audiences by observing them through the eyes of an adorable child. There's no denying Micael is adorable, with her modest, slowburn smiles and inability to pronounce "socialism", let alone grasp what it means.... The problem with this perspective is that it's limiting, and overly reliant on writing and imagery a child herself might understand: Awet observing the symbolic storm clouds gathering over the desert, for one, or being taught by the nuns to turn the other cheek, a lesson that inevitably comes on handy later on; were it not drawn from a true story, the ending might seem right out of a picture book. The forthcoming "Johnny Mad Dog" - about child soldiers in Liberia - reportedly tackles this murderous form of child labour with far less restraint (not least by focusing on infants who, unlike Amet, rather take to their weaponry), and is all the more troubling and effective for it. You can't help but think Falorni's film is rather too watchable for the horrors it purports to represent, but if it gets the tribal names Jebha and Shabia into wider conversation, as "Hotel Rwanda" did with the Tutsi and Hutu, then all its simplifications and manipulations won't have been in vain. See more 04/28/2009 Extraordinary film about a young girl's transformation into a radical freedom fighter in Eritrea. The lead girl is fantastic, and the film, which takes a close look at the Eritrean struggle for independence and its use of children in its rebel groups, is both disturbing and powerful. This is forceful, by the throat filmmaking. See more Read all reviews

Heart of Fire

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