FLAME
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1997 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 6.5 Alternative Scale: **1/2 out of ****
Zimbabwe, 1996
Running Length: 1:30
MPAA Classification: No MPAA Rating (Violence, rape, mature themes,
profanity)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Shown at the Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema, 5/1/97, 5/3/97 &
5/7/97
Cast: Marian Kunonga, Ulla Mahaka, Norman Madawo, Moise Matura Director: Ingrid Sinclair Producers: Simon Bright, Joel Phiri Screenplay: Ingrid Sinclair with Barbara Jago and Philip Roberts Cinematography: Joao Costa Music: Philip Roberts with Dick "Chinx" Chingaira and Keith Goddard
FLAME, the first feature from British-born film maker Ingrid Sinclair, takes on the age-old issue of image versus reality in war, and how there is a price to be paid for even the most celebrated victories. Life in the military is hard, and, contrary to romanticized perceptions of it, there's far more brutality and ugliness than glory and adulation. This is a lesson that all soldiers must learn at one time or another, and a scenario that, because of its inherent strength, has been dramatized for the screen countless times before. But, while the themes and ideas presented in FLAME are not unique, the setting and characters are. The events related in this movie transpire during the late 1970s, when Zimbabwe's war for independence "spread like a bush fire." The perspective is that of a pair of native female soldiers.
If there's a constant in the military, it's that men dominate the field of battle. Regardless of the culture and time period, this has always been true, and the male bias of armies makes it especially difficult for would-be female soldiers. Not only must they face the rigors of training, but they are forced to endure forms (some subtle, some obvious) of discrimination and sexual harassment. FLAME makes clear what we expect: such things happen in the untamed lands of Africa as readily as at the United States' famed military academies.
FLAME introduces us to two adolescent girls, Florence (Marian Kunonga) and Nyasha (Ulla Mahaka), who, seduced by the romantic lure of a war for freedom, leave their small home town in Zimbabwe (which, at the time, was still known as Rhodesia) and travel on foot to Mozambique to be trained as soldiers. One of the requirements for acceptance into a "liberation camp" is that they choose new names. Nyasha becomes known as "Liberty" and Florence as "Flame." Over the course of the war, Florence lives up to her new name, becoming one of the most courageous and passionate soldiers in her unit. But tragedy dogs her steps: she is raped, becomes pregnant, then faces several devastating losses. In the end, even her close friendship with Nyasha is fractured, and it takes an epilogue years after the end of the war to offer healing and closure.
At its heart, FLAME is less about war in general than about how the experience of being in the line of fire changes personalities. Florence and Nyasha drift apart because their different roles in the militia mold their viewpoints. Florence becomes involved in combat and is consumed by it; Nyasha, who joined the military to get an education, works as a typist. While the gradual widening of the rift between them is presented effectively, the "big scene" that severs their relationship is abrupt and unsatisfactory. In general, FLAME falters whenever a sequence demands a forceful display of emotion. Neither the director nor her actors appear capable of elevating the production to that more critical level.
While FLAME is interesting because of its unique perspective on a war that many North Americans know little about and its recognition of the contribution of women soldiers, it lacks the emotional depth necessary to transform it from a competent motion picture to a remarkable one. Sinclair is a widely-respected documentary film maker, so it comes as a surprise that one of FLAME's flaws is that it doesn't seem real enough. There isn't much attention to detail -- Sinclair is interested in telling her story, but not fine tuning it to the point where the audience develops more than a cursory sympathy for the main characters. A film with such broad, rich material should touch an audience on a more fundamental level than the intellectual one. FLAME never quite manages to accomplish that, making the experience of watching it worthwhile but incomplete.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
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