FTER EIGHT
attention-grabbing
episodes of True
Detective and a Jane
Eyre adaptation
Cary Fukunaga
returns to the themes
of brutality violence and corrupted
innocence of his breakthrough film Sin
Nombre with this powerful adaptation
of Uzodinma Iwealaâs 2005 novel about
a boy soldier caught in the bloody conflict
of an unnamed West African country.
With the UN barely holding back
the tide of civil war nine year-old
Agu (Attah) flees the massacre of his
family by rebel soldiers only to run
straight into the clutches of the militiaâs
charismatic Commandant (Elba) who
adopts the boy and begins to train him
in the ways of soldiery â including
the killing of anyone believed to be
Beasts Of
No Nation
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OUT OCTOBER 16 / CERT. TBC / 133 MINS.
DIRECTOR Cary Fukunaga
CAST Idris Elba Abraham Attah
Ama Abebrese
PLOT In war-torn West Africa nine year-
old Agu (Attah) escapes the slaughter of
his family only to become the protégé
of a rebel leader (Elba) who schools him
in the brutal ways of the rebel militia.
sympathetic to government forces.
As the Commandantâs men (and boys)
trudge towards a showdown with the
enemy white UN vehicles glide by
like ghosts unable â or unwilling â to
intervene. The parallels with Rwanda
Darfur and too many other African
confl icts are obvious.
Idris Elba too big for television but
with an unproven ability to carry a fi lm
fi nds himself once again caught between
the small and big screens as Beasts Of
No Nation becomes a âNetfl ix Originalâ
with only a limited theatrical release. Yet
for all its awards-friendly worthiness
creative fl air and technical prowess the
story may prove a little too much for
Academy voters â not to mention Netfl ix
viewers â to stomach. Still Attah gives
a preternaturally assured performance
and Elba is a formidable presence.
Fukunagaâs steely-eyed yet sensitive
adaptation adopts the novelâs fi rst-
person approach portraying the carnage
from Aguâs point of view allowing us to
observe the corrupting forces preying
upon the young boyâs psyche. Only once
does Fukunaga allow himself to look
away but even then what he elects not
to show proves no less horrifi c than the
fi lmâs most harrowing moments. Itâs one
of many astute judgments in a searingly
powerful unfl inchingly brutal and almost
unbearably bleak fi lm. DAVID HUGHESVERDICT A bold portrayal of a boy soldier
in a brutal bloody confl ict anchored
by commanding performances from
Idris Elba and 14 year-old newcomer
Abraham Attah.Idris Elba as
Commandant and
Abraham Attah as
the young Agu.McFarland
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OUT SEPTEMBER 25 / CERT. PG / 129 MINS.
DIRECTOR Niki Caro
CAST Kevin Costner Carlos Pratts
Maria Belloâ Itâs like the â90s never went away.
Set in 1987 Kevin Costner is a
disgraced track coach who moves to
a Latino neighbourhood discovers a
welter of running talent in a rundown
school and seeks to energise the kids
to start a cross-country team and beat
the privileged poshos. Youâll predict
every beat here from the reluctance
of Costnerâs family to move to the slow
earning of respect but it has a nice
feel for Latino life the kids are a likable
bunch and Costner as ever imbues the
hooey with enough gravitas to make
you care. Based on a true story it ends
with the real-life subjects running by
a hill. Itâs that kind of movie. IFI Believe In Miracles
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OUT OCTOBER 9 / CERT. TBC / 90 MINS.
DIRECTOR Jonny Owen
CAST Peter Shilton Viv Anderson
Martin OâNeill Trevor Francisâ Imagine Rotherham suddenly
winning the Premier League FA Cup
and UEFA Cup and youâre close to
Nottingham Forestâs unbelievable run
in the late â70s. Tickling memories from
the reunited squad Jonny Owenâs
winning doc appeals beyond football
tribalism with a universal underdog
story boosted by a thumping disco
score that gives a thud to the match
footage. The hero is Brian Clough
whose brutally simple tactics (âWork
hard play well enjoy itâ) make a total
mockery of todayâs managerial voodoo.
Especially priceless: his legendary
training sessions â a piggyback through
nettles followed by a pint. Terrifi c. SC