Three months into his two months leave, rebel soldier Adnan (Kamal Ramadan) is ambivalent about returning to his unit. When his girlfriend Lina (Ekram Marcus) kicks him out, Adnan has to go on the run before his commanding officer catches him.
But before he leaves, Adnan needs one thing: his gun.
But before he leaves, Adnan needs one thing: his gun.
Set during the Sudanese Civil War (1983-2005), Akasha (The Round Up) is a comedy about two AWOL soldiers on the run in their home town from both their units and the women in their lives.
In the premise one can see the contours of the Hollywood version - two soldiers go on the lam dressed as women - but Akasha is more nuanced and grounded than its initial set up suggests. The disguises do not even last that long.
What is most fascinating about the film is the way its context is woven through the entire diegesis. The movie's greatest success is its juxtaposition between the characters' hijinks and the sociopolitical pressures they are under.
Adnan is a fascinating character - starting out as a bit of a blowhard, he has been dining out on the celebrity he gained from shooting a government drone down with his beloved AK 47, who he has nicknamed 'Nancy'. Nancy is the one thing he cares for - in an early scene he lovingly rubs it down with skin cream.
It is an extremely warm and intimate sequence - or would be, if it was not a man literally stroking his gun. Adnan's relationship to his gun is the basis of his confidence, and his masculinity.
When his long-suffering girlfriend Lina takes Nancy as her own, Adnan is - in his own mind - unmanned.
One of the great things about the movie is the way it satirises Adnan's views of gender roles - without his weapon, Adnan has nothing; meanwhile Lina literally moves on with her day, with 'Nancy' as a trophy.
While the conflict itself is never a subject of ridicule, the movie constantly juxtaposes images of men playing war while everyone else in the village (women, elders and children) try to get on with life.
The soldiers drive around aimlessly with nothing to use their mounted machine gun on - at one dramatic moment, it stalls in sand.
Occasionally the compositions are messy, the editing sometimes works against comprehension, and some of the performances are pretty wooden, but none of these flaws matter when the dramatic intent remains so strong.
Furthermore, this movie is funny: Adnan's infatuation with 'Nancy' is ridiculous, and his attempts to win over Lina fall flat. Even the minor beats are great: there is a running subplot involving one soldier trying to tell jokes is excruciatingly hilarious.
The movie is not about violent or romantic resolution - the movie is ultimately about its main characters accepting different kinds of responsibility, and not necessarily as soldiers. Adnan finally has to acknowledge his deficits to Lina (in front of everyone), while his friend Absi (Ganja Chakado) - a resolute non-combatant - supplies their commander with info about an enemy force that is preparing to attack the village.
Woven within the broader historical context, the movie is also a universal story about characters achieving maturity - whether our heroes will live long enough to make good on this growth is left up in the air.
The debut of documentarian Hajooj Kuka, Akasha is definitely worth a look. You can check out more information about the film here.
If you are new to this blog, I also co-host a podcast on James Bond called The James Bond Cocktail Hour. Every episode, we do a review of one of the books and one of the movies, picked at random.
In the latest episode we review the 1957 novel From Russia With Love, written by Ian Fleming. Subscribe on iTunes, or wherever you get your podcasts!
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