What do you know about Darfur? Whether your answer ranges from the most up-to-date knowledge of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1778 or involves asking what a "darfer" is, Brian Steidle doesn't really give a shit.
He wants to know what you're doing about it.
"The Devil Came on Horseback" is former Marine officer Brain Steidle's attempt to document his journey and rouse international action on the Darfur genocide.
Faced with a seven-year desk job in the Marines, the eager-to-act Steidle takes a job as a patrol leader in the Sudan monitoring the North-South ceasefire in early 2004. Envisioning an early retirement followed by a trip sailing the world, he quickly loses any such individualist dreams when confronted with the horrors in Sudan.
As the people in Darfur receive none of Khartoum's wealth or aid promised by the ceasefire, groups like the Sudan Liberation Army and Justice and Equality Movement fight for equal rights. However, the Sudanese government quickly retaliates with the help of the ruthless Janjaweed (meaning "devil on a horse"), together slaughtering thousands of Darfur's people. As the attacks worsen and more innocent Africans died, Steidle decides to take a volunteer position with the African Union, allowing him closer proximity to the raging conflict.
Upon arrival there, Steidle is greeted by the phrase "Welcome to Hell." He quickly becomes exposed to the evils of mass killings. Armed only with his camera, a tool he would have gladly exchanged for a gun, he is forced to live with the double horror of being next to slaughter yet unable to do anything about it. The African Union repeatedly limits him or any others from taking decisive actions, even deterring him from camping in the heart of a village so that it wouldn't be bombed. Along with testimonies from Janjaweed detractors confirming Sudanese government involvement, and his thousands of pictures of the masses of Darfur dead, raped, burned and displaced, Steidle declines another term with the Union and returns home. Fed up, depressed and beleaguered by the stagnancy of any force trying to make a difference in Darfur, he harbors hopes that the United States will do what is necessary.
Steidle then launches a campaign for Darfur, giving pictures to The New York Times and appearing at universities, rallies and on news broadcasts. He even talks to Condoleezza Rice, stressing again that immediate action is needed to stop the killing in Darfur.
Yet the killing continues.
Steidle returns to Africa, both to neighboring Chad and southern Rwanda in attempts to understand how refugees and those coping with the aftershocks of genocide are surviving. Here the viewer can see Steidle has reached his breaking point, as he learns that many Rwandans are as bad off today as they were over a decade ago. Steidle wonders despondently if such will be the fate of Darfur.
"The Devil Came on Horseback" is not the typical date movie. More akin to "An Inconvenient Truth" and "Sicko," this documentary deals with activists — not actors or big names. Visually, the film consists mainly of Brian's photographs and video footage, which are guaranteed to be some of the most vivid portrayals of bloodshed one has ever seen. Though at times overwhelming, the pictures will shock even the most desensitized viewer. Steidle hopes the pictures will more than shock, but haunt or enrage you.
The film's greatest moment, and simultaneously Brian's highest virtue, comes out in his lasting attitude toward the inaction. After all the work he has done, including giving substantial evidence to the ICC in Hague against members of the Sudanese government, no one will see Brian patting himself on the back for one simple reason. The killing and raping hasn't stopped, and until it does, neither will he.
4 1/2 out of 5 stars