Stranger Says:

Finally, a film about black African child soldiers that is not predictable or exploitive or reheats themes and images found in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (“the horror, the horror”). And yet, Eye of the Storm has the musculature of a Hollywood film. It moves, feels, and is edited like a movie that has a big budget, big names, and big themes. Even some of the tension and twists in the plot are the kinds studio executives expect from a script. The hero, a lawyer, is expertly performed by Maimouna N’Diaye; and the villain, a former child soldier, is overdone just a little bit by Fargass Assandé. But he is still a pleasure to watch. Indeed, the scene when, while in his prison cell, the villain grabs a lit cigarette, inhales its smoke with a great desperation and intensity, and exhales with the satisfaction of a cool sun coming out of the clouds after a storm suddenly clears will be imprinted on your mind forever. (If you have recently quit smoking, close your eyes during this scene—it will make nonsense of your resolve.) (CHARLES MUDEDE)