The Dark Side

Two films that no one out there will ever see ...

WE COME AS FRIENDS (B+) - Hubert Sauper devastated us with his examination of capitalism's horrific effects on humans across the globe in "Darwin's Nightmare," about a decade ago. Here he flies a small airplane into the heart of Sudan for a disturbing look at the birth -- and exploitation -- of a new nation, South Sudan, after its 2011 declaration of independence.

Sauper has an unerring eye for detail, and he has an uncanny way of immersing his camera into situations and making it seem invisible while sucking the viewer into each scene. The new nation presents many opportunities -- democracy, hope for a better way of life for its citizens. But by now we know better than that. It's all about military strength and (what else?) oil, the lubricant of global money-changing. The natural resources lure the United States and China into a battle for the land beneath these people's feet.

If governments are after their oil, then the Christian missionaries covet their souls. A couple from Texas are comically cliched as they thump their Bible in the heart of Africa. The wife looks on condescendingly as a dark-skinned toddler wails while having his foot forced into a pair of clean white socks, likely the first time his feet have ever been covered. The husband preaches about the sin of nudity. (Many kids are lucky to have donated duds to go to school in.)

Sauper cleverly mixes the comical with the sad. A local politician's appearance on a local radio station is bizarrely funny. The rag-tag soldiers bumble through their drills. The locals' bewilderment at the outside world is both touching and at times wry. Sauper, whose rickety plane is a running gag throughout the film, takes a somewhat lighter tone than he did in "Darwin." Yet he has captured the heart of darkness here -- greed, avarice, violence. One local observes (twice) that the moon belongs to America, because that nation colonized it. It's a wild concept to him. But for him and his fellow Sudanese, the white man's burden has landed on their doorstep. 

STRAY DOG (B) - When Debra Granik made the powerful drama "Winter's Bone" in rural Missouri (with a pre-Hollywood Jennifer Lawrence), she discovered Ronnie Hall, a good ol' biker dude and Vietnam veteran. She was so drawn to him that she returned to film a documentary about the man with a heart as big as his gut.

Hall has his challenges on the domestic front, with a Mexican wife, Alicia, who has limited English skills and twin teenage boys. (His Spanglish is bad as mine would be if I tried.) And, of course, he must reconcile his past as a pawn of the war machine. During a therapy session he breaks down recalling the barbarity he engaged in while serving in Vietnam and his failings as a young officer. He's haunted by the thought that the simple act of forgiving himself would dishonor the memories of his comrades.

Yet, he's an ambassador to friends, family and strangers. Granik also follows along on a road trip with a couple of buddies as they visit a woman who lost a granddaughter in a recent war, pausing to pray before they leave. We watch him cut a fellow veteran some slack when he falls behind on rent at the mobile-home park Hall operates. Hall counsels his own granddaughter, pushing her to pursue a career rather than settle for a dead-end job and a slacker of a boyfriend who has gotten her pregnant. He reminisces with his own daughter, the result of a union with a Korean woman during the war. (In old photos he strikes a dashing figure, like a young Bryan Cranston or perhaps Errol Flynn.)

There's plenty of light fare here, too. Hall has a soft spot for his bevy of dogs and cats. He shares an overabundance of Viagra with two pals, urging them to "rise to the occasion." One discussion of his service is with two men, one of whom is, randomly, wearing clown makeup. The attempts to acclimate his wife's boys into rural American life (they're used to Mexico City) evoke chuckles (especially one boy's deadpan humoring of a trailer-park regular who is just certain that the boys must be so relieved to have escaped their awful country). As part of their English lessons the boys sing along awkwardly to "America, the Beautiful" and this word they keep hearing, "pussy," in a dictionary.

Another trip takes Hall and his wife and an entourage to the Vietnam Memorial in D.C., for a subdued reckoning. Other memorial services dot the narrative. Hall seems to be everywhere duty calls, a caretaker still trying to win the forgiveness of all those men he left behind.

"Stray Dog" is streaming at PBS.com under the umbrella of "Independent Lens."