THE GOOD LIE

US, 2014, 110 minutes, Colour.
Reese Witherspoon, Arnold Oceng, Ger Duany, Emmanuel Jal, Kuoth Wiel, Corey Stoll.
Directed by Philippe Falardeau.

The Good Lie did not receive much cinema exhibition, but became available on DVD. It is the kind of film that could be recommended to serious audiences, especially those with a concern for justice, and those who are interested in the turmoil in African countries, especially sub-Sahara countries like Sudan.

The meaning of the title? At some stage, some of the characters feel the need to tell some untruths in order to achieve a greater good.

While Reese Witherspoon gets prominent billing, she does not appear in the early part of the film, so is on posters for marketing purposes, as well as for her interest in being in this film and promoting it.

In fact, the first half of the film takes place in the South of Sudan, in the underprivileged area which became in recent years the new country of South Sudan. In the 1980s, there were many raids on villages by militant groups, nicknamed “the devils on horseback”. A great number of people were killed and many fled. Perhaps, the story of the “lost boys” is known to some audiences, the group of boys who were urged to leave their villages, leaving behind their families and loved ones, and trekking thousands of kilometres from Sudan to Kenya. When they arrived in that country, they were put into refugee camps, remaining there for several years, many of them growing up into adulthood in the camps.

The drama early in the film is that of the attacks of the militants on horseback, the cruelty and viciousness, the killings, and the long walk by the children, not all surviving, but helping one another to move further away from their dangerous country.

The second part of the film shows us some of the boys, now adults, and the possibilities of their being transferred to other countries – not possible for everyone, some spending many more years interned in the camps. But, many were fortunate enough to be able to go to the United States or countries like Australia, refuges for political refugees.

While the boys learn to speak English in Kenya, they were not educated in the ways of the world, let alone the ways of an affluent first world nation like the United States. We follow a group of them as they are transferred to Kansas City, Missouri, with bureaucrats bungling the transfer and separating one of the men from his sister who is sent on to Boston. Reese Witherspoon plays one of the contacts, herself not particularly well-prepared to understand the young men from Africa, but making efforts to get them accommodation and to get jobs.

The younger men themselves have varied experiences in their work, some of them being pressed into joining groups, something the equivalent of gangs. Others get steady jobs. One enterprising young man devotes himself to study, improving himself, with the hope of training to be a doctor.

The Good Lie could be something of an eye-opening film for those who have not had contact with refugees, who are not aware of how important cultural differences are, or the strain of the newcomers in their learning of a new language, getting used to manners, different food, expectations in the workplace…

To that extent, the film is interesting, entertaining in its way – and a good way of enabling its audiences to have their horizons widened.

The film was directed by Canadian director, Philippe Falardeau, who treated something of the same themes in a French-Canadian? setting, with a teacher who came from northern Africa, Monsieur Lazar, which is also a very fine film.

1. The title? Lies? Allowable for a good and moral result? As illustrated in this film?

2. South Sudan in the 1980s, the military, the massacres, the villages, the walks of the refugees, through the desert, the camps in Kenya, migration to the US? Adapting to American life?

3. The cast, refugees, former child soldiers? The American cast?

4. The Sudan story, applicable to world situations, terrorism, tribal massacres, military, Africa?

5. The contrast between Africa and the affluent American lifestyle, Kansas City, Missouri?

6. The title of the Lost Boys, going to America, not lost, their achievements within the US?

7. The children in the village, their culture, playing together, the attacks, the death of the father, the children, the mother? Theo and his brothers, Theo as the chief after his father’s death, the loyalties of the others? His leadership? The device of remembering the names of their ancestors – and later as the means for the authentic identification of Theo?

8. The trek, going to Ethiopia, hardships and the desert, the tigers, drinking the urine? A sense of brotherhood and sisterhood? Meeting the group, turning back from Ethiopian, going to Kenya? The river and the many deaths, their crossing, fears, the young boy dying, the soldiers pursuing, Theo sacrificing himself for the others?

9. The camp in Kenya, the thousands, 13 years in the camp, the children and the receiving of aid, the aid workers? That life, transition to adults, the English-language, rather formal and polite? Their hopes? On the list to go to America?

10. The indications that there was little preparation for that life in America, customs, food…? In the plane, the puzzle about the meals? Arriving, the woman being late, the courtesy language to Carrie? Their not wanting to tell lies? The concern about their sister being transferred to Boston and their inability to help, Mamere and his sense of responsibility?

11. Carrie, late, with her friend? At the airport, meeting the men, awkwardness? Illustrating American lack of awareness of culture, customs and the need for adaptation? Leaving them at the door, showing them the flat?

12. The three in the house, the charity worker and her support? Beds, food, thinking the phone was an alarm? Late for the interviews? Jeremiah and the job application, his skill with tools? Their wanting him to be working on a team, slower work, offering the drugs? The effect on him, sense of loss, not coming home? Phoning his sister, his anger, the police, the others getting him out? The fight with Mamere? The reconciliation and apology?

13. Mamere, clever, wanting to be a doctor, stacking the goods, going to classes, his answers about Huckleberry Finn? Concern about the others, especially Jeremiah?

14. Paul, finding a place in the church, at home there, his jobs, finally leading the prayer?

15. The tensions, the effect on them, opportunities and lost opportunities?

16. Carrie, a friend, arranging for the interviews, testing their capabilities, looking for opportunities? His cattle and their being at home with the cattle?

17. The situation with her sister, Carrie going to immigration, the official helping, advice? Jack and his willingness to supply finance? Carrie, moved by the men, learning from them, listening to them? Getting them out of trouble? The charity worker, the clean-up of her apartment, offering it for their sister? Her arrival, more sophisticated than the men, happy to be with them?

18. The message from Theo, Mamere and his decision to return, the old friend in the camp, finding Theo? The test with the names of the grandfathers? Going to the embassies, unwilling to help? Going to the airport, Mamere giving Theo his passport, Theo going through, arriving in America? Mamere and his staying, offering to work in the camp, gratitude for his life being saved by Theo?

19. A significant film about Africans, violence and massacres, displacement, the refugee camps – and the possibilities of affluent countries offering assistance?