Emmuanuel Jal: War Child

Directed By: Karim Chrobog

Review By Roberto Azula

My sympathies were roused during C. Karim Chrobog’s Emmuanuel Jal: War Child, but unfortunately Chrobog, feels a need to intrude. Emmanuel Jal’s astonishing story stands on its own; the very narrative makes for a riveting adventure tale. Jal was forced from his village during the Sudanese Civil War, and after bouncing from Ethiopia to Kenya to America, he finally used his musical talent as his ticket out. Unfortunately, this documentary feels over-produced, like one of those E! True Hollywood Story pseudo-documentaries. In a sharp contrast to the naturalistic unfolding of Up The Yangtze, War Child features slick cutaways, somewhat deceptively paired imagery, and a generally confused timeline.

Still, through all the mawkish platitudes and hokey music, Jal’s story is at once powerful and unbelievable. There is no denying Jal has led an epic adventure, full of madness, brutality, courage, and tenacity. And it’s precisely for that reason that I wish Chrobog would just step back and stop trying to make a hagiography of Jal. Instead, we get a vague, abridged account of the Sudanese Civil War, illustrated with an equally vague, stylized map of Africa. The Sudan People’s Liberation Army is practically excused for their policy of recruiting child soldiers, and Jal almost appears as an apologist for this practice. Neither Jal nor Chrobog ever take any of the southern Sudanese authorities to task about this policy, and Chrobog keeps a safe distance with his talking head experts. In yet another uncommented-upon scene, Jal is proudly wearing a SPLA T-shirt during a reunion with his father. (A rather anti-climatic scene that shows no interaction between Jal and his father).

As I tried to peer into this heroic man’s life, I tried not to get distracted and annoyed by the cueing in of the sympathetic piano and the uplifting messages that were meant to inspire me. Given Jal’s extraordinary tale of survival, I suppose I was expecting more of a tone in line with Heart of Darkness than Up With People. In one potentially frank scene, a student at an American high school asks Jal if he has ever killed anyone. As Jal hems and haws at this question, I could hear Chrobog hem and haw as well. I have no doubts of the bravery and sincerity of both Jal and Chrobog, but total honesty still should not be a casualty when tackling these intense, explosive subjects.