Reviewed by Mike Martin
Stars Christopher Minie, Daisy Victoria Vandy, Joseph Duo, Dagbeh Tweh, Barry Chernoh
Produced by Benoît Jaubert & Mathieu Kassovitz
Written by Jean Stephane Sauvaire
Certification UK 15 | France 12
Runtime 97 minutes
Directed by Jean Stephane Sauvaire
Film fans with a nervous disposition should be warned right from the off – the opening 10 minutes of Johnny Mad Dog features a rape and several executions – by child soldiers. It sets the tone for this uncompromising, shocking look at wars in Africa, but to the film’s enormous credit it knows when to let up a little and engage with the characters.
It was filmed in Liberia – itself a war zone until 2003, but the actual setting for the action is never named. Instead we are plunged straight away into the nightmare world of a disparate gang of underaged rebels, led by Johnny Mad Dog (Christopher Minie). He and his gang – fully armed – are ordered by ‘Colonel Never Die’ (Joseph Duo) to attack a Dogo TV station to prevent the spread of propaganda against the rebels. It’s a nasty, brutal attack culminating in a rape scene.
Mad Dog is then ordered to attack a town and clear it for Never Die’s men, which they do. Here though Mad Dog makes his first mistake – as his men are merrily shooting and looting the bombed-out town, he spots a young girl, Laokole, and spares her life. She is trying to hide her baby brother and save her crippled father. When she returns she discovers ‘Dad’ has been shot, and takes him to the UN hospital via a wheelbarrow – clearly a young woman of enormous dignity and ferocious determination. By this time Mad Dog’s ‘army’ are starting to unravel – one wants to keep a pig as a pet, the others want to eat it. Meanwhile the UN stand around, treating the wounded but powerless to stop the bloodshed.
The triumph of Sauvaire’s film it is throws us into the utter confusion of children fighting a war which they barely understand, without judging them. Mad Dog’s violence is balanced out by Laokole’s calm humanism, and their final conflict is powerful and moving. There’s also a deliciously ironic pay-off with Colonel Never Die – and no, it’s not that he is killed. Recalling City Of Men and Hotel Rwanda, Johnny Mad Dog manages a different take on the subject of terrible, pointless wars, and that is a real achievement. The sets, costumes and verbal twists are spot-on, but be warned – ear damage may result from the constant shouting and explosions. The hand-held camera trick is wearing slightly thin too – it would be nice to see a battle and be actually able to make out what’s going on for once. These are minor gripes though, overall it’s a gutsy gem.