Films you can find on Netflix U.K.
From: Ghana, Africa Watch: Trailer, Netflix, JustWatch Next: Sleepwalking Land, The Fall, Eve's BayouContinue reading “The Burial of Kojo – A Magical Quest Through Space and Time”
If you enjoy watching people try to deal with high pressure scenarios then check out A War. A husband and wife face two uniquely high pressure situations – the husband in organising his squadron in Afghanistan, and his wife in bringing up 3 kids on her own. Unfortunately the husband is the first to crack and the consequences are bad.
From: Denmark, EuropeContinue reading “A War – Experience the Pressures of Army Life”
Watch: Trailer, Netflix, Rent on Amazon, Buy on Amazon
Next: Hurt Locker, Manchester by the Sea, The Insult
If you love entrepreneurship and seeing deserving, hard working kids succeed, you’ll love this film. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is a humble success story of one bright kid in Malawi. It’s also a quick 101 of the causes of the Malawian famine, and a brilliant addition to the Netflix catalogue.
From: Malawi, AfricaContinue reading “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind – Invention Saves the Day”
Watch: Trailer, Watch on Netflix
Next: Queen of Katwe, October Sky, Not One Less
Drugs, corruption, and extra-marital affairs feature in this Kenyan thriller centred around a macho politician. If you’re looking for excitement, danger, and a token white guy, this film is for you. Check it out here on Netflix.
People picking trees, leaves filling sacks, sacks thrown onto trucks, money changing hands… Veve starts with some quick cuts showing the distribution of veve from the trees it grows on to Kenya’s cities. Along the way it passes through a bunch of middle men and check points. You’ll also see money changing hands a few times along the way, but who does the money end up with?
The next scene reveals the prime candidate behind the drug-trafficking. Meet Amos, a local member of parliament campaigning to become governor of the region. Judged on first impressions, he’s a friendly husband who is popular in the region he is campaigning to govern. However, there’s more to Amos that meets the eye.
Simply put, he’s the prototype of the macho African ‘big man’ politician.
Firstly, you’ll see how he uses intimidation to try and guarantee votes. He tries to extort local businessmen as well as threaten farmers to vote for him. Secondly, you’ll witness his machismo. The director intentionally shows him criticise his wife for buying scented body lotion and chide his secretary for playing kid’s puzzles. Just in case that’s too subtle, he’s also cheating on his wife. He’s not a nice man.
By giving Amos the characteristics of the ‘big man’ politician the director uses Amos to critique the power hungry men in Kenyan politics. It’s a subtle warning carried in a thrilling film well worth watching.
If you want to see more African ‘big men’ on screen, check out Last King of Scotland, a political thriller with Forrest Whitaker playing Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.
Or if you want to see African films with more violence and corruption, check out Beasts of No Nation featuring kid soldiers in an unnamed African country. You can also check out the living perpetrators of the Liberian Civil War in Fragment 53.
From: United Arab Emirates, Asia Watch: Trailer, Netflix, JustWatch Next: The Platform, Silence of the Lambs, Merry Christmas Mr LawrenceContinue reading “Rattle the Cage – An Eccentric Villain Confronts a Prisoner in his Way”
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