Presenters at the opening night of the Atlantic Film Festival described “Hyena Road” as providing Canadians, at long last, with their own war myth.
Watching the movie forces you to consider: do we want one?
“Hyena Road” follows a group of soldiers as they go about their duties in Afghanistan. They keep watch, they aim their guns and sometimes they’re forced to shoot the enemy. Like any good-guy-versus-bad-guy movie, the Canadian soldiers are portrayed as much more accurate than their Taliban counterparts.
Director Paul Gross adds intrigue and suspense by introducing a conflict between a mysterious character and a man who shook hands with Canadian military higher-ups many times. To say more would spoil too much – just keep in mind that there is more happening than men shooting guns.
Canadian favourite Allan Hawco plays a strongman-slash-funny-goof with a soft side. He acted well, but his new moustache was distracting. Rossif Sutherland played the tough, morally conflicted soldier, and was also lucky enough to have Christine Horne as his love interest in a compelling performance.
The most frustrating thing about the film was minute after minute of military-talk. “Alpha, this is 66, I have contact 1028 local.” “Up 23, right 2.” It was similar to watching a foreign film without subtitles. I desperately wanted to understand, but no one gave me the tools to decipher what I was hearing.
The line between explanation and glorification of the war was dangerously thin. Gross previously directed, wrote, and starred in “Passchendaele”, which had a tendency to be overdramatic. He delivers again in “Hyena Road”, for better or for worse. There wasn’t a dry eye by the end of the Sept. 17 screening.
Gross made a choice to show Canadians the moral issues servicemen must face when engaged in conflict abroad. The Atlantic Film Festival made a choice to give that issue center stage by opening with it. While we don’t all support Canadian involvement in military action, the fact remains that our family, friends and neighbours were/are a part of it. We can’t ignore that and I’m glad to see that the AFF didn’t either.
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