Ger Duany, from left, Arnold Oceng and Emmanuel Jal appear in a scene from The Good Lie. AP Photo/Warner Bros. Pictures, Bob Mahoney
Ger Duany, from left, Arnold Oceng and Emmanuel Jal appear in a scene from The Good Lie. AP Photo/Warner Bros. Pictures, Bob Mahoney

DIFF 2014 review: The Good Lie



The Good Lie opens with a pretty clear statement of intent. The film has barely begun when the South Sudanese home village of our protagonists is strafed by helicopters of the North Sudanese army and burnt to the ground, leaving a tiny band of orphaned children to make the long walk to Ethiopia, then ultimately Kenya after they are block by further North Sudanese troops along the way.

These were the so called “Lost Boys” of the 22-year Sudanese Civil War, thousands of orphaned children who trekked up to 1,000 miles over harsh African terrain when the war began in 1983 to eventually find relative security in refugee camps in neighbouring countries. In the case of our four surviving protagonists, 15 years later they are some of around 3,600 Sudanese children and young adults (their own camp alone housed around 100,000 refugees) to be granted asylum in the United States.

There’s a marked change of tone once they land Stateside. The film’s opening act is frankly brutal. As if the genocide wasn’t bad enough, we see children die of dehydration, exhaustion and further encounters with the military as they seek safety, and we look set to be on for a pretty harrowing 112 minutes.

Once our heroes arrive in Kansas City, however, the film does a virtual about-flip into a fish-out-of-water, culture clash comedy as the young men from a remote African village struggle to come to terms with their new American life.

They still have problems, for sure – the Deng family is split up when sister Abital (Kuoth Wiel) is whisked off to Boston on arrival, as the charity supporting the relocation programme decrees that female refugees must be placed with an adoptive family; Paul (Emmanual Jal) falls out with his new boss while Mamere (Arnold Oceng) works two jobs to fund his dream of medical school, and is haunted by his sense of guilt over the death of their older brother Theo, back in Sudan. All this is pretty inconsequential following what we’ve already seen them go through, though.

This could jar horribly, and it was certainly noted as I sat in the cinema, but luckily the leads have enough charm to carry it off. Plus, three of the four lead actors playing refugees are themselves children of the Sudanese civil war. Jal and his filmic brother Jeremiah (Ger Duany) were both forcefully recruited as child soldiers before escaping to safety, while Wiel was born in an Ethiopian refugee camp. If they’re happy with the switch in tone, I’ll try and let it ride too.

Of course, the big marketing tool of the movie is Reese Witherspoon. She's having a stellar year, with Oscar nods for Wild (also screening at DIFF) and a production credit for Gone Girl to add to this critically acclaimed film. In fairness though, she's a supporting actress as their recruitment advisor here. All the credit has to go to not only the grown-up Dengs, but the children who portray their fleeing 1983 versions, many of whom are themselves the offspring of Lost Boys.

It's a rare film that in the space of less than two hours has you dumbstruck at the sheer inhumanity of our species, then laughing at culture clash bloopers that wouldn't be out of place in Crocodile Dundee II. I'm still fighting the urge to call that insensitive, so go along and make your own mind up.

*The Good Lie screens at Madinat Theatre, 9pm, Saturday 13 December; MoE 7, 2.45pm, Monday 15 Dec, and goes on general UAE release on Thursday December 18.

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THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick

Hometown: Cologne, Germany

Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)

Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes

Favourite hobby: Football

Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ADCC AFC Women’s Champions League Group A fixtures

October 3: v Wuhan Jiangda Women’s FC
October 6: v Hyundai Steel Red Angels Women’s FC
October 9: v Sabah FA

RESULT

Arsenal 1 Chelsea 2
Arsenal:
Aubameyang (13')
Chelsea: Jorginho (83'), Abraham (87') 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The Kites

Romain Gary

Penguin Modern Classics

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