”Confusao!”. ”Confusion!”. Not the face time and time again, the Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski when he in 1975, land in the Angolan capital of Luanda. The Portuguese are about to leave their colony in any way they can. Luanda is characterized by rumors, street fighting, and a worse decay.
”The wealthier Portuguese, the bigger the baggage,” reports Kapuscinski dry in his book ”One day to live,” when he the year after the release summarizes its three months in the civil war in Angola. A war that would last another 25 years. It was by no means a painless colonial liberation, but just like all of the other immediate political arena.
How in all the world would be able to shape Kapuscinskis personal experience other than to this kaleidoscopic animated film with the inserted documentary footage? It has become a war movie with antikrigsbudskap – recently awarded with the european film awards as best animated film.
Kapuscinski, where he is struggling with the telexsändningarna home, kedjeröker and with risk for life takes to the southern front where the inbördesstriderna is particularly bloody between the communist in OFFICE and the CIA-backed UNITA, while south african troops are mobilizing for the invasion with the threat to establish even a apartheidstat in Angola.
He is unequivocally a kind of hero, who overcomes loneliness, the own dödsskräcken to depict this ”dirty, stubborn and cruel” war, so full of ideological abstractions, and the ever-shifting front lines. An incorrect ‘ greeting at the roadblocks could lead to immediate execution.
Kapuscinski hesitate with the answer, but deny to the last. He has reluctantly taken a position.
Like the two animated predecessor in Ari Folmans ”Waltz with Bashir” (2008) and Marjane Satrapis ”Persepolis” (2007), the film found its own expression, not least when it comes to violence then the whole canvas is filled by the flying nightmarish explosions of blood-red splitter or only flugornas persistent buzzing accompanies the corpses at the roadside.
It has already been pointed out that Kapuscinski in his long illustrious career any time laborations with the truth. So too do the filmmakers. For example, was rescued he never of the young beautiful and heroic in OFFICE-soldier Carlota, which is present in both the newsreels and animation when Kapuscinski ended up in serious trouble. But Farrusco, he met the Portuguese fallskärmsjägaren who dropped out of his elite squad to fight on the OFFICE’s side and with a handful of men held a position in the south.
the first few months of the Angolan independence and the civil war has been filtered twice, first through Kapuscinskis unusual personal testimony, followed by filmarnas dramaturgical concentrated summary of it, as to at least partly remedy the spectator ”confusao”.
However, is both Kapuscinski and stunts sincere about the journalistic dilemma that arose at the telexmaskinen in the room your hotel room in Luanda when his hemmaredaktion requested clarification about the really cuban troops (the Soviet union had already refused all the help) come to the OFFICE’s aid, while the south african tanks rolling in and helicopters gone to luftattack.
Kapuscinski hesitate with the answer, but deny to the last. He has reluctantly taken a position. The flyers singles down over Luandas the deserted streets, on the beach is the wreck of the ship Marx. In the recent interviews, deftly inserted in the animated there and then, confirmed the civil war’s indelible traces, and reflected upon its victims. It is both exciting and challenging.
See more. Three other films about the contradictions of the african continent: ”Hotel Rwanda” (2004), ”White material” (2009) ”The train of salt and sugar” (2016).
Link to the graphics
