The Devil Came On Horseback review

Reviews

Apr 11th 2008 By Total Film

Not one to go near on a date, but this harrowing, intimate US doco does invaluable work in spreading word about the genocide committed in Sudan's Darfur region by government-armed Muslim militia the Janjaweed (‘devil on a horse’) against the black African population. The hellish situation's cannily shown through the eyes of Brian Steidle - a young American ex-marine who in 2004 took a job he'd found on the net as a cease-fire monitor with no clue what he was getting into; later, he returned with stacks of rare photographic evidence of the atrocities. Likeably unassuming and level-headed, he's a guy few could fail to empathise with as his naive trust in his nation is shaken by its reluctance to intervene. Shame about the flashy editing, which distracts from haunting images that need no trussing up.