Johnny Mad Dog - DVD

Film: In a civil war-torn African country, a group of child soldiers led by 15-year-old Johnny Mad Dog (Christophe Minie) fight on the front lines against the government. The boys, who call themselves No Good Advice (Dagbeth Tweh), Butterfly (Mohammed Sesay) or Chicken Hair, murder, terrorize, steal, rape and humiliate. The children do not know compassion. They carry out their mission to storm a TV station and thus prepare the way for the overthrow of the president with relentless harshness. Neither snipers, UN soldiers nor civilians stop them. At the same time, 16-year-old Lakolé (Daisy Victoria Vandy) is trying to get her little brother and crippled father to safety. When Lakolé and Johnny's paths cross, it has unforeseen consequences for the fate of both.

From the very first minutes of the film, in which a newly recruited child soldier is forced to shoot his own father, it is clear that Johnny Mad Dog will not go easy on its viewers and seeks to portray the shocking subject matter in all its reality. Director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire and producer Mathieu Kassovit, the director of the acclaimed drama Hate, have researched extensively and cast as actors primarily amateurs who here come to terms with their own experiences as child soldiers.

Is there still such a thing as humanity in a boy like Johnny, who has been forced to kill as a child soldier since the age of 10? Is there hope for children like him to ever live a normal life and feel something like happiness? The film raises these questions without ever slipping into any form of pathos or even kitsch. The story of Johnny Mad Dog and his friends is depressing, sad and shocking - making it a hugely important piece of contemporary cinema.

In order to maintain the high level of authenticity, Johnny Mad Dog has also not been dubbed for release in Germany, but is offered with only (optional) German subtitles. This does make the film even more difficult to consume than it already is due to the subject matter alone. However, the almost documentary effect that this achieves allows the viewer to at least sense the horror that the film portrays. Sauvaire has succeeded in creating a haunting war drama that demands the viewer. And in this particular case, that's the only way to go. Absolutely worth seeing!

Image + Sound: The oppressive imagery of the film comes across well on the DVD thanks to the good color mixing and decent contrasts. The same goes for the audio, which is dominated by the dialogue and atmospheric ambient sounds. Good!

Extras: In addition to the trailer for the film, the DVD also has a nearly 50-minute making of to offer, which offers an absolutely commercial-free look at the making of this ambitious work. Especially the casting and preparation of the young amateur actors are examined in detail at the beginning of the documentary and are absolutely worth seeing in view of the impressive performances in the film.

Conclusion: Johnny Mad Dog is not light fare, which makes this film, however, not less worth seeing. It's an important film that thrives on its high level of authenticity. The DVD is technically well implemented and brings an insightful and extremely worth seeing Making of as a bonus. If you like to venture into realistic, heavy cinema, you can't miss this drama. Highly recommended

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp