o Heroi

        When watching o Heroi, I couldn’t help but feel bad for Vitorio, who lost his leg in the war. The fact that he had been in the war for twenty years shows his dedication to the Angolan cause and it is sad to think that his repayment (in the form of a prosthetic leg) is stolen by street kids. I also couldn’t help but notice that he often referred to himself as a war hero. Although he certainly was a hero, it was odd to hear him say it so frequently. Most heroes do not refer to themselves as heroes, but rather say that they were just doing their job. Although Vitorio deserved the prosthetic leg, he acted like he was entitled to it because he was a Sergeant in the army. Surely there were other Sergeants in the army who lost limbs, which is why Vitorio’s behavior seems somewhat strange to me.

            Although at times Vitorio acts entitled, after spending twenty years fighting for a country, it is fair to assume that the country would do something for a veteran who devoted his life to the war. Hence the prosthetic leg given by the hospital. His prosthesis represents freedom and independence from war, gratitude for serving, and hope that the leg will help him transition into post-war life. Likewise, it also symbolizes hope in Manu’s eyes because he uses it to pray for his father. He hopes that God will reunite father and son and Manu will get to see his father again. Although the leg is just a piece of plastic, it is so much more than that to Manu and Vitorio.

           After watching the film, I saw similarities between Vitorio’s prosthetic leg, Diouna’s mask, and Mory’s shoes. Mory gives nice shoes to his father as a symbol of respect. He respects his father, even though he pressures Mory to take a second wife. Although Mory disappoints and disobeys his father, the respect he has for his father is apparent in the shoes he gives to him, even after Mory leaves. Diouna gives the mask to her employers as a symbol of hope. She hopes that they will be able to give her a better life by paying her wages that she can send home to her family. As she realizes that her life is not any better than it was, Diouna takes back the mask when she loses hope that things will get better. Vitorio’s leg is given to him by the hospital as a repayment for serving twenty years in the war. When he is given the leg, he is ecstatic because he functions more normally then he could when he had to use two crutches. His prosthesis represents freedom because he is able to walk freely. It also represents his freedom from the military and the life he knew since he was fifteen years old. When the leg is stolen, he still has the freedom from the war, but he has to resort back to using two crutches again. A difference between Vitorio and Diouna is that while Vitorio loses his leg, he does not lose his hope. He still continues on with his life, even managing to fall in love and save a young boy from being beat up. While he wanted his leg back, it was not the focus of his life.

            A common theme between many of the films this semester has been war and its effects. War has either been present, as in Turtles Can Fly, forthcoming, in The Reluctant Fundamentalist or recouping after it occurred, as in Black Girl, And so Angles Die, o Heroi, Kandahar, and La Vie Est Belle. In each of the films, the characters have had to deal with war. Some had to prepare for it as war was on the brink, others had to deal with it on their home land as countries invaded, and others had to deal with the hunger, heartache, and destruction that it left in its wake. These films have showed me parts of war that I never considered, because as an American, I typically only notice the things that affect my country. I do not consider the struggles and destruction other countries have had to build from.