'Ezra' weaves damning depiction of Africa's child soldiers.

"Ezra" was one of the hardest films for me to watch. It chronicled the brutality of children forced into war — into being soldiers on the front lines. Many of these kids were six- and seven-year-olds, some of whom were oh so casually shot to death in cold blood by their own commanders for disobedience.

The film also led me to wonder why I was so anguished by the idea of child soldiers in this particular context. Children have probably fought in every single war ever waged since the beginning of time. And they continue to do so. In addition to various countries in Africa, children are fighting wars in Asia, South America, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and even in Britain, where 16 is the minimum age for enlistment. In Bolivia, 40 percent of the army is below the age of 18 and half of those are below the age of 16.

So why does the idea of child soldiers in Africa strike such a chord? Perhaps because so many of these children are way younger than 18 or even 16. Many are not even close to adolescence.

Further, unlike children who joined World War I or the Revolutionary War, many of today's child soldiers are not fighting out of a sense of patriotism. They are not fighting to defend their country or their religion, they are fighting because they are being forced or coerced to. Someone bigger and stronger, someone who is supposed to be protecting them, is forcing them to fight.

Ultimately though, I think I would be disturbed by actually seeing any child fighting. It just so happens that Africa has been the fulcrum of the many stories publicized about this phenomenon. The picture out of Africa is much clearer. These wars are about greed, thirst for power and corruption. As such, the loss of these children's lives is more profoundly tragic.

"Ezra" begins with the title character being kidnapped from his elementary school in Sierra Leone, along with a bunch of other children. His loving sister Onitcha, who attends the same school, looks on in horror as Ezra is abducted. The story then cuts to the present where Ezra, now a man, has run away from the army. He faces the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and they demand that he testify to his deeds. The story unfolds in a series of flashbacks. It is an effective technique as a constant reminder of how past events affect the future. In a nod to the realities of war, Ezra cannot seem to recall the night seven years ago when he and his compatriots destroyed his home village. His parents were murdered and his sister, who is a witness at his trial, was mutilated.

Ezra insists that it was the drugs that the commanders gave to the troops that caused his memory loss. Army leaders often give child soldiers narcotics that imbue them with almost superhuman levels of energy and drain them of conscience. The viewer suspects though, that Ezra's lack of memory is a psychological defense against having to deal with the horror of what he did to his own family. War destroys all it touches, and even the fragile love that Ezra manages to find in the midst of his forced conscription ends in utter tragedy.

The director, Newton Aduaka, won the grand prize for this film at the most recent Pan African Film Festival and is to be commended for his courage in choosing to tackle this subject. Using the most sparing of sets, etc. he manages a multidimensional depiction of the terror, despair and stubborn vein of humanity that still manages to carry the possibility of change. The actors' disciplined execution of the material is also impressive. They convey all the pathos of the situation without being overly dramatic.

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By Nadine Matthews, Special to the AmNews