Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight-A Rhodesian "War Movie" Review

There are only about three movies about the Rhodesian Bush War, all seen indirectly, and this is one of them.
 
“Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight” is adapted from the eponymous memoir by Alexandra Fuller, who grew up in Rhodesia during the Bush War and it’s best approached on those terms. This is not a war movie in any conventional sense. It is a childhood memoir put on screen, one shaped by trauma, set against the background drop of the Bush War. The war is present, but rarely centered, instead preferring to explore (quite frankly) Fuller’s fucked up childhood in the midst of the war.
 
From a cinematic auteur’s perspective, it is very well done film. This is a film about feral Rhodesian children. Having read the book, it’s hard to argue the film exaggerates. If anything, it restrains itself. While the adaptation necessarily smooths some edges for narrative clarity, it still goes to very dark places well beyond the war itself.
 
The film makes no pretense of being a historical. Time is compressed and events are rearranged, as they were in the book—itself non-linear. On screen, the war functions as atmosphere and pressure and it works. The use of a child’s perspective is effective in conveying fear, confusion, and the menace of war and racial conflict.
 
The mother is portrayed as aggressively, almost fanatically Rhodesian. That portrayal is not inconsistent with history. It recalls Kipling’s observation in “The Female of the Species,” and the film is perceptive in showing how women are the most ardent believers in ideology. Both the mother’s and father’s performances avoid caricature.
 
Several scenes are genuinely immersive in that period of Rhodesia. The venerable FN FAL got plenty of screentime, though it didn’t play a starring or even supporting role. Unfortunately, there was no gunplay. Anyone expecting combat scenes will be disappointed. This is not that movie.
 
The depiction of rural security measures is one of the film’s quieter strengths. It’s like still photos from the ‘70s have come alive. The convoy system on high-risk roads is shown well, including BSAP gun trucks escorting civilian traffic along mine-cleared routes. The appearance of period-correct Mazda B-series pickups, actually used by BSAP reservists, is a small detail that lands well. The reservists themselves are shown as men of widely varying ages, which accurately reflects the degree of white mobilization at the time. The father’s call-ups and the mother’s volunteer work as a BSAP “B girl” on the radios are treated as routine rather than heroic.
 
The film also touches on the “Bright Lights” guards left to protect farms while able-bodied men were deployed elsewhere. These older or unfit men existed largely as deterrence, and the film captures both the intention and the quiet absurdity of the system. Many Rhodesians at the time, asked: why strip farms of their defenders only to send replacements who could not fight? The film did not explore this.
 
One of the more effective sequences shows the aftermath of a farmhouse break-in (by terrorists) in which the black housemaid is brutally attacked for her loyalty to the family and left for dead. The father clearing the house and calling for help on the Agric-Alert radio is tense, but handled without melodrama. It’s matter-of-fact, which makes it more disturbing and realistic. The radio call was a nice touch.
 
It was very interesting to see the coverage of the election regarding Bishop Abel Muzorewa (the moderate candidate) and Mugabe. After Mugabe’s victory, they show African squatters and the conflict this brought with the farmers, though squatting and land seizures didn’t become the major issue Zimbabwe is famous for until later.
 
What it captures well is the pervasive tension between Africans and whites, and the ambiguity of loyalty on the farms. The bond between servants and the children they raise sits uneasily alongside adult skepticism and quiet support for the terrorists. When Jacob, the cook, warns that “the hills are watching,” the line works on both a literal and symbolic level. Whether as fighters or informers, the war was always closer than it appears.
 
Taken on its own terms, “Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight” succeeds. It’s a good movie that captures your attention and if you want to introduce the wife to the Rhodesian Bush War, she’ll probably like it too. If you want the much better perspective on Rhodesian rural life and the war, Fuller’s book is worth the read to humanize the history.

Buy Lessons From the Rhodesian Bush War