Educational Media Reviews Online

This beautiful and provocative film relates the brief history of Nepal’s ten year war between government forces and the Maoist People’s Liberation Army through the experiences of one rebel soldier, Uma Bhujel, code named Silu. Silu joins the rebels at eighteen years of age. Her older sister had escaped from an abusive arranged marriage when she was twelve, only to hang herself later. Silu explains that it is for women like her sister and for the poor people of Nepal that she joined the rebels to fight the monarchy. Through the use of interviews with Silu’s family, including her brother who fights for the government forces, the film shows the personal choices people make to better their lives. Silu rises through the ranks to become a Brigade Commissioner in the rebel army, where forty percent of the rebel soldiers are women. When the Maoists join rank with ousted parliamentarians to overthrow the king, the resulting peace finds Silu, after 10 years as a soldier, an elected government representative.

The film shows the lushness and color of the Nepalese countryside, home to women washing clothing in the rivers, carrying firewood on their backs or sweeping the dusty roadside with palm fronds. Further in the forest at the rebel training camp, uniformed women drill, check their weapons and explain their participation in the rebellion. The director effectively allows the camera to linger on the actions of the Nepalese people either at work or at war, and lights interviews with outdoor fire or candlelight, revealing poor areas where electricity is scarce. The provocative nature of the film is its subject matter. It personalizes the violence of this bloody conflict through the experiences of one woman. Running through the film are brief historical explanations written in capitalized white lettering on a black background, which give a context to the conflict. Battle footage, television interviews, the crowded streets of Kathmandu, and the interior of the parliament building enlarge an understanding of Silu’s world. Two contrasting images bookend the movie. At the beginning, a soldier slowly gets dressed in a military camouflage uniform, including a red-starred cap. She addresses the camera and introduces herself as Silu, Brigade Commissioner in the Maoist People’s Liberation Army. Near the end of the film, a woman buttons up a black business jacket, her hair pulled back, no military cap. She introduces herself without rebel code name as Uma Bhujel, Constituent Assembly member.

The strongest part of the film occurs when Silu is asked whether she would fight her brother on the battlefield. The filmmakers reveal her difficulty in contemplating her actions, but she eventually says she would follow the Party’s orders. The film ends with Silu in her village bedecked with flowers and welcomed with love. The narrative notes that the Maoists have since pulled out of the government. It does not say what Silu is doing, but it does let the viewer know that she never had to fight her brother. In a way, that is a happy ending for a film that represents why some people go to war, rather than why wars are fought.

Technically, this video is well-produced, with clear subtitles. It should be of interest to a variety of college courses as well as the general public.