War Dance (2007)

3.5/4

An emotionally-engaging testament to the indomitability of the human spirit even in the midst of the most dire of circumstances.

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04/13/08

3.5/4

We celebrate joy rising from the ashes of tragedy.

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03/21/08

3.5/4

This is powerful stuff that reasserts both the evil and the good in human hearts.

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03/07/08

N/A

It is wonderful to watch this joyous slice of the cultural lives of these victimized, traumatized children struggling to survive and build a better life in a desperately troubled part of the world.

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03/04/08

3/4

This film offers a child's perspective on the ravages and complexity of war and is also a convincing testament to the healing power of creative expression.

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02/22/08

3.5/4

'The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places,' Hemingway wrote in A Farewell to Arms. That statement might stand as the summation of this documentary, which celebrates the strength of winsome, broken children.

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02/22/08

5/5

A truly beautiful tribute to the redemptive powers of art, music, and dance, and the insidious destructiveness that trickles down in war to the most innocent of victims. Please see it.

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02/16/08

B-

The film's artsy surface diminishes its impact [but] tells a story that needs to be told repeatedly.

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02/11/08

4/4

[Dominic Fine's] camera captures beautiful Ugandan locations -- and some equally beautiful character moments. The film ends on a surprisingly upbeat note.

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01/31/08

N/A

These kids are amazing in the most literal sense of the word, and you will never forget them.

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01/29/08

B-

An uplifting, visually pleasing documentary.

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01/25/08

B

Relies a little too much on the old formula of the underdog sports movie, but it has a lot more substance to it than that.

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01/23/08

N/A

War/Dance complicates documentary tradition, trying to express events that seem beyond expression.

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01/17/08

3/4

The film is a bit of a mishmash, but you will fall for the children it depicts.

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12/14/07

4/4

The horror and heartwarming [is] equally compounded.

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12/14/07

B-

The music offers the northern Ugandan children a chance to heal from their fear and pain--that part of the film cannot be questioned.

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12/04/07

N/A

Children in dire situations can be a tricky, quasi-exploitive subject for filmmakers ... but it's handled here in a responsible, occasionally joyous fashion. You can still feel your heartstrings being pulled, but when it's done this well, it's tough to be

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11/30/07

3/4

War/Dance is the sort of documentary that's meant to appall us, to shake us out of our uninformed complacency. And yet there are moments in the film that may make an audience uncomfortable in ways the Fines may not have intended.

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11/30/07