Fragment 53 Film Difficulty Ranking: 3
War. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing.
However, you can learn a lot from this documentary about the Liberian Civil War. It features interviews with the people responsible for killing hundreds if not thousands of people. You’ll also get to hear from all sides in the conflict and what they did in the role and what they think of the murders they committed now that the conflict is over. If you can’t imagine a time in which eating a heart is normal, I recommend you check out this film to find out.
Why Watch Fragment 53?
- You don’t know anything about the Liberian Civil War, or anything about Liberia for that matter
- Learn about the nature of war from the warlords, generals, and soldiers that fought in the Liberian conflict
- Hear from General “Butt naked”
- It’s a perfect compliment to Indonesia’s The Look of Silence and The Act of Killing
The Breakdown
Fragment 53 starts with the sound of a trumpet, a sound connected to war memorial services. The sound of the trumpet sets the tone of this war documentary, a tone that both recognises those lost, but also questions the nature of war. Alongside the trumpet we are shown a montage of statues and statuettes. Each one of them is a deity of war from various human cultures. War has been around for millennia. Is it a part of humanity or something we can stop?
Before, and also between the interviews of the war generals, the film hints at the surreal. We are shown shots of people working at roadside stalls, a cloud of fruit bats stripping the leaves off of a tree, and hills covered in rain forest and mist. Why are these images included? They are included as they show time passing. These mundane images are just as natural as war is to mankind. Bats will always strip the leaves off of trees, mist will always collect in the hills, and people will always be making a living. These things, just like war, will also continue into the foreseeable future.
The director’s also manipulate the interviews with the warlords and generals. Each interviewee is given the same introduction text and are all shot in close-up. But look out for how the director leaves them after the interview is complete. The first interviewee is rather vague about his opinion of war so his interview finishes with a blurred and dark image of him getting up to leave. The second interviewee is consistent in his views of war and his role and therefore the director ends his interview with a clear head shot. This is just one of the ways a director can influence our perception of interviewees in documentaries!
Conclusion
Fragment 53 is an intriguing look into the nature of war. Is it something that is a part of humanity or can it be eliminated? Hear from seven warlords/generals from Liberia. Their answers offer an insight into both the Liberian war and humanity as a whole.
For more documentaries on the nature of war, check out The Look of Silence and also Little Dieter Needs to Fly.