Plot Summary:A civil war had been raging for years between the dictatorship of the Liberian president and the rebels who called themselves the LURD. The LURD wanted to overthrow the government. They terrorized the people in the country through killings, rapes, dismemberment and destruction. They were becoming more powerful as they closed in on the capital city, Monrovia. One unlikely heroine is inspired by a dream to bring Christian women together to start a peace movement. She begins within her own church and asks that all women from all churches are brought together. At one meeting, a Muslim woman goes up to the podium to address the church and tells them that she is moved by what they were doing and that Muslim women need to be brought into the Peace Movement. This was a cause that transcended all differences. With this extraordinary mission, the women dressed in plain white clothes and covered their heads, as a way to shed any differences of class or religion among them. They decide to make peace signs and sit in at the fish market where the Liberian president drove past every morning. He refuses to acknowledge them for weeks. The women finally get to present their mission statement to the president, as well as demand peace talks between the government and the rebels. The women do not just hand things over to the men, however. When the peace talks finally come to fruition, a delegate group goes to Ghana to ensure that a resolution is made. The first two weeks no progress is made. The rebel warlords are just demanding future positions in the government and access to the country's resources. The Liberian president had already fled back to Liberia when Sierra Leone tries to indict him for war crimes. The women's growing anger and frustration lead them to stage a sit in. They block all the doors and windows preventing anyone from leaving the peace talks without a resolution. Trapped with no food and water, the talks turn serious. Finally, a resolution is signed. The UN peacekeepers move in and the Liberian president is exiled to Nigeria. The women understood that they could not rely on anyone else to make sure that the resolutions are implemented. They also realize, seeing the UN only creating chaos, that to ensure full disarmament in the country, they would need to step in, forgive their perpetrators, and convince each one of them that they would be accepted back into the community. The truly final mission for the women was to ensure a democratic election and elect a woman into the office of the presidency. The power of the women prevails. The first female president is elected. The women can finally go home. Mission accomplished. Peace reigns in Liberia.
很美国
这才是真正的《姊姊妹妹站起来》
78/100
Leymah真的是个超级有策略头脑又真诚的人。
“人们只有在极度的主流逻辑陷于危机状态的时候,他们才会选择女性角色” (绝对服务性的,牺牲性的,同时是要完全的用情感的,邻里的,社群的关系中)有意思的prompt.
这里男人的战争像过家家,女人的反战像过家家,整部电影也像过家家。像是开party,唱唱歌跳跳舞就解决了?有这么简单?女导演在强调妇女社会运动的成就,高度怀疑叙事角度不客观,当一家之言看吧。
the great strength and determination of Liberian women.
女人们组织起来,给国家带来和平的故事。教训是: IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A MUCH BETTER WORLD HAD WOMEN RULED THE WORLD EARLIER.
好片,就是有的观点有失偏颇
蠢蠢欲动了一学期终于去了美领馆参加活动。有的人看了一会儿发现不是他们认为的“电影”(另只有英字没有中字)就走了,很可惜。利比里亚,这个只时不时在新闻中出现几十秒的地方,长年被战争肆虐。片中的女人们没有武器,没有权柄,只有白T恤和勇气,竟促成了谈判。以柔克刚的力量,令人由衷敬佩感动
Power of non-violence. Power of women.
good intensions. Quite flat as far as the narrative goes..
不管它想传达的信息是什么,传达信息的意图是什么,这至少是一部成功的片子,完整的电影。
All we need is peace (and women?)。
Pray the Devil Back to Hell is the gripping account of a group of brave and visionary women who demanded peace for Liberia, a nation torn to shreds by decades of civil war.
We are now talking this stand to secure the future of our children. Because we believe, as custodians of society, tomorrow our children will ask us, "Mama, what was your role during the crisis?"
可惜可惜,我觉得还是有西方国家在暗中操纵的。驱赶掉一个强硬的独裁总统,然后建立起一个民主国家。哈,很模式化,和东欧的颜色革命一致,只是将学生运动改换成了女权运动。女人真好骗,总统维持治安,被判强制流亡,那些叛军头子们杀人无数,却成了新的过渡政府的要人了。很民主嘛?
good, 女人女人!!!!