God Grew Tired of Us tells of Sudan's Lost Boys
Photo Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
God Grew Tired of Us focuses on the plights of four Sudanese refugees as they come to America. The story of the Lost Boys gained wide-spread recognition after their stories were told on a TV series.
Christopher Dillon Quinn's new documentary God Grew Tired of Us tells the story of four Sudanese refugees (of the now famous Lost Boys) as they try to adjust to life in America. It is a modern coming to America story complete with high hopes, culture shock and bittersweet reality.
For those not in the know, the Lost Boys (and Girls) are a group of several thousand Sudanese refugees that fled their homeland in the 80s when the civil war that still rages first flared up. They marched on foot for thousands of miles, braving starvation, dehydration, and attacks by wild animals and by the government of their own country, all the way from southern Sudan to a refugee camp just inside Ethiopia.
In keeping with their luck thus far, the camp closed after only two years, and they were forced to travel, again on foot, to Kenya where many of them still live today. However, a lucky few were chosen to relocate to America and start new lives here. The film follows four of the boys that were picked.
The film opens with a brief history of the Lost Boys and the civil war in Sudan before we meet them in their refugee camp in Kenya just as they are preparing to travel to America. We get to see the tightness of their community and the huge hole that will be left by the absence of so many of its members. It is here, that the film introduces the four main protagonists.
After this, the real meat of the film gets started as the three travel to America and adjust to their new lives there. At times, the movie pokes a bit of fun at the men's culture shock of coming to America. They are amazed by electricity, have to be taught about what a refrigerator is, and become confused at the prospect of not having to sleep two to a bed.
This comic relief knocks on the door of, but never quite crosses the threshold into outright mockery, and ultimately serves to help the viewer see just where the refugees are coming from and how far removed their lives have been from everything that most Americans take for granted.
But the men's transition to America is not all delightful comic set pieces. Going from a tightly knit community of boys that had seen each other through hell and back again to the stark, lonely existence of modern American working life takes its toll on them, and serves as a stinging commentary on what many Americans have chosen to make of our society.
At the end of the day, God Grew Tired of Us is a remarkable film about remarkable people, people that, in many ways, have lived a true American dream as well as seen exactly where it can fall short.
The basic story alone is worth seeing the movie for, but the men themselves seal the deal. Their personal successes and failures in trying to deal with life in America and try to help their family and friends still in Africa is touching and at times heart breaking.
This film is a truly enlightening experience. It tells of hardships and lucky breaks, charity and callousness, the American Dream and where the dream comes apart.
