So What Will You Do To Stop Sudan's Apocalypse Now?
The PopcornReel.com Movie Review: "The Devil Came On Horseback"
By Omar P.L. Moore/August 10, 2007
(Poster: International Film Circuit)
So if a person is killed by a hail of bullets and no one is there to witness
it, did it happen? Of course, such questions never depend upon the whether an observer
sees death occur. If we know that death occurs yet do nothing to help stem
death's tide, aren't we all complicit, regardless of distance? "The Devil
Came On Horseback", which opened late last month in New York
(and later this month elsewhere in the U.S.) doesn't directly examine that
question, although its overtones are strongly suggested. Instead,
filmmakers Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern view the current and very real ongoing
genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan, in north eastern Africa through the
prism of former U.S. marine Brian Steidle (in the movie's poster above), who
spent almost a year living in the Darfur region as an observer for the African
Union. Armed with pen, paper and camera, Steidle witnesses murder after
murder after murder of the local villagers by the Janjaweed, an Arab-African
militia group financed by the Sudanese government led by Omar al-Bashir.
He takes over a thousand pictures and makes report after report, sending all to
the African Union and to the corridors of power in Washington, D.C. and the
United Nations, yet all of his dispatches, replete with valuable information on
the atrocities and their assailants, fall on blind eyes and deaf ears.
Until op-ed journalist Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times received
the pictures and published them in the paper in his op-ed column in February
2005.
"The Devil Came On Horseback", which refers to the Janjaweed's arrival on horses
(Mr. Steidle aptly labels the murdering group "evil") explicitly relies on the
first-person narrative of Mr. Steidle to bring a sense of drama and immediacy to
the deadly events on the ground. The one wish for the film (with which
Steidle himself was especially concerned) would be that the story had focused
more on interviews with the villagers on the ground who are struggling to
survive each onslaught by the Janjaweed. Ms. Sundberg and Ms. Stern do
train their cameras on the villagers in several interviews to be sure, but you
wanted to be able to hear even more from them. "Devil" is a powerful and
engaging documentary that at times focuses more on the helpless former marine
who wanted to make a difference, versus the indifference of worldwide
governments and the United Nations, than it does the specific people who are
living through everyday hell in Darfur, located in Sudan's western region.
(Note: "God Grew Tired Of Us", which was released in January, was effective at
getting many more first person stories of Sudanese people who had fled the
country on foot for months on end. Nicole Kidman narrated that
documentary. The stories resonated and taught people about how Americans
are viewed by the Sudanese more so than the customary look from the other way
around.)
The comparison of the two documentaries may be wholly unfair, and the
circumstances of the locations of the interview subjects is likely a key factor
in the reason why more interviews may not have been garnered in "Devil".
Sundberg and Stern do a remarkable thing however; even though Steidle (and to a
lesser extent his sister Gretchen Wallace Steidle) more or less take center
stage, the effect of this spotlight is to use Steidle's example to inspire those
watching to make the kind of difference in the lives of the Darfurian locals and
also seek to help end the bloodshed, as Steidle has spent much of his time
trying to do since this film was made. A humanitarian, Steidle, commits
now full-time efforts to lobbying politicians in Washington, D.C., lecturing at
schools and universities nationwide, going to town-hall meetings and rallies,
and giving testimony before Congress about ending the genocide in the Sudan.
Mr. Steidle was just 27 at the time he landed in Sudan and prior to his arrival
there in 2004 he was a battle-tested marine who had broken his leg three times.
But once in Darfur he couldn't so much as break a sweat to help the dying
villagers around him. No guns, no bullets, no glory. He was told to
stay put.
There are shocking photographs and other disturbing imagery (as well as stunning
cinematography), but what is more shocking (or may be not) is the deafening
silence of those possessing the power to act -- a theme that runs consistently
throughout the film. At times, "Devil" plays like the action film "Clear
And Present Danger", except with a real-life ongoing danger and deadly situation
in play. The "Devil" filmmakers could agree that in some ways Steidle is
akin to an "everyman", so to speak, in the guise of Harrison Ford's film
character Jack Ryan. Steidle however, is not a movie star, nor is he
seeking such acclaim. One thing that "Devil" teaches us is that while Mr.
Ford decided to take on a role as part of his occupation as an actor, Mr.
Steidle decided to actively take on a mission which chose him.
The biggest question that begs to be asked following the conclusion of "The
Devil Came On Horseback" is whether we as people will choose the same mission or
help out in our own small way to end a genocide that has taken almost half a
million lives and counting. By definition, continued collective silence
equals continued certain death for the innocent men, women and children of
Darfur.
"The Devil Came On Horseback" is not rated by the Motion
Picture Association of America, but does contain disturbing images, mainly in
freeze-frame photographs and videos. The film showed at the Sundance Film
Festival in January. The film's duration is one hour and 24 minutes.
Related: A
Conversation With Brian Steidle: "How Can A Genocide Be Confidential?"
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