Faat Kine

Out of all of the African films I've seen over the past few months, no film was more charming than director Ousmane Sembene's dramedy Faat Kine. The story is surprisingly funny and this was a relief considering the fact that all of the African films I have recently seen have generally focused on a multitude of depressing subjects including racial oppression, tribal warfare, rape, and genocide. The fact that Faat Kine refuses to see herself as a victim or someone to be pitied is what makes the story particularly admirable. She has made a success of herself in spite of the odds and ought to be viewed more favourably from people like her parents.

In Faat Kine the Senegalese Sembene does an excellent job of conveying a feeling of a people living in a place that still contains vestiges from the colonial period. Hearing the French language in addition to Wolof naturally reminds one of the influence the French in Senegal, while other examples of Western influences are apparent in areas like technology. The children wear modern clothing and people drive cars while at the same time there are those who choose to don traditional outfits and walk around with a basket on their head.

Although the film's budget doesn't appear to have been very large, the costumes have to be recognized because they truly are remarkable. The splashes of all of the bright solid colors and the imaginative patterns are particularly noticable on the truly ebony tones of the women in the story. The striking head-pieces also add to the indication of the idea of individual efforts to support a cultural steadfastness. The fact that Faat Kine's son Djip wears both western and traditional items of clothing is an example of how Sembene cleverly uses small things to convey large ideas.

Sembene has made an enjoyable film that explores what it is like to be a woman working in a post-colonial, yet still patriarchal African society. He provides a kind of commentary on the challenges that face people who are still on some level attempting to integrate aspects of both worlds into their lives. Through the criticism of both the father and teacher of Faat Kine, Sembene is also commenting on the importance of having males do the right thing when they are in positions of authority.

Umm, I don't get it...?

100 Days - A Review

Having independently done research on the Rwandan genocide for my half of a class presentation on the subject, I was very curious to see director Nick Hughes film 100 Days because it would be the the first non-documentary film regarding the tragic events of 1994 that I would have an opportunity to see, not having gotten the chance to see anything more than a few clips from recent, more mainstream drama Hotel Rwanda. Although the three documentaries I saw (Ghosts of Rwanda, Keepers of Memory, and In the Tall Grass) naturally felt more thorough in terms of presenting factual information, 100 Days succeeds more in bringing the element of humanity to the story of these tragic people, and is therefore equally worthy of being viewed.

The element of humanity is most evident in that a dramatic film like 100 Days is easily able to include things like romantic relationships and an immediate dialogue of the events as they are happening, as opposed to a documentary like Keepers of Memory which relies primarily of interviews with people who recall things that were said and done. In 100 Days, even though the film isn't a documentary, there is a very realistic tone to the film because one is essentially with theses people as they are facing their tragic circumstances, rather than listening in to the conversations of those who remember. In a documentary, while the subject matter is equally horrifying, there is some consolation in knowing that the people who are being interviewed have at least survived. In 100 Days one can't know what the fate will be for the characters that they are becoming invested in so there is that extra layer of nervousness throughout the story.

The cinematography is beautiful, and the viewers are initially led into a false sense of security. (Imagine if someone went into the film without any idea of the subject matter!) We are treated to shots of lush scenery and there's an idyllic quality perforating the environment. Things are pretty and normal as they should be. The decision to include things like images of romantic relationships without making them seem somehow frivolous (as it would in a piece of standard Hollywood fare) is also remarkable and adds to the depth of the film. The love shown between the young couple in the beginning of the story appears to be genuine, so much so that it is almost as if one feels as though one is intruding on an intimate moment. My knowledge that this film would be dealing with the genocide only made this scene all the more poignant.

Much of the film is successful in terms of its authenticity, and this is another reason why this film can easily stand up to the earlier mentioned documentary films. The viewers see the side of both the Tutsis and the Hutus and, although the documentaries are more skillful in relating the history of the two groups (complete with rare old footage of both groups), it is understood that the matter is not simply the case of Hutus deciding to persecute Tutsis on some selfish whim for power. Both sides have suffered, we see, and unfortunately there is no simple solution to the problem between the two groups. The viewers only know that the solution ought not be resolved with mass killings of one group.

The element of faith is something that is also touched on in both 100 Days and the documentaries that I watched. Surely, a holy church of god should be shelter enough for those who are seeking to protect themselves from evil if they are indeed believers? In the documentaries we see the mass "graves" in more than one christian church. In 100 days the reality of the church being able to do nothing to help save lives is further illustrated. Rather than providing adequate protection, the church only serves the purpose of rounding up potential victims so that they are easily accessible. These scenes were even more horrifying than the actual images of the dead in the documentary. In the documentaries the dead are already dead. In 100 Days the people who seek refuge in the church are still alive; there is still the possibility of hope even though one knows it's hopeless, and that is much more disturbing--the idea of seeing people alive only to know that nothing can be done now to keep them that way.

Unbelievably moving. Undeniably tragic. Four Stars.

A Review of Ezra

An ambitious film by Nigerian director Newton I. Aduaka, Ezra tells the story about children who are violently kidnapped and turned into fighting machines for rebellious militias. In the beginning of the film Ezra is a normal young boy who attends school and has a family. In a flash, his life is forever changed when heavily armed militia members invade the school grounds, killing teachers and the children who are presumably too small to hold firearms. A ferocious looking officer then begins to bark orders to the surviving children whom he’s kidnapped. They are then more or less told that the militia is their new family and that they will have to pledge their loyalty to the cause or else suffer the consequences. These early scenes are horrifying and the audience immediately senses the terrible existence that lies ahead for Ezra and his comrades.

While the film has a very interesting premise, the direction and fluidity of the film are somewhat muddled due to the choppiness of the editing. Most of the scenes are shown in flashback form, so there is a constant jumping to and fro which can periodically be confusing, particularly when there are so many characters of similar type and age. (At times, for example, I found myself confusing Ezra’s wife with his sisters or female comrade.)

Although the pacing and editing in Ezra is as choppy as it was in Namibia: The Struggle for Independence, the performances of the majority of the actors are very good particularly from Mamodou Turay Kamara who is quite good in the title role, and Mariame N’Diaye who plays Ezra’s mute sister, her tongue having been cut out during a militia attack. Both actors bring striking emotion to their roles and N’Dyiaye’s performance is particularly memorable because she is able to convey so much to the audience without using her voice.

Like Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation, Ezra is also capable of reminding one of Wainaina’s “How to Write About Africa”. “An AK-47, prominent ribs, naked breasts: use these…” The movie has plenty of AK-47s and starvation is always right around the corner for the people. (I assume the lack of prominent female characters is the reason we were spared several shots of naked breasts.) “Taboo subjects: ordinary domestic scenes, love between Africans (unless a death is involved)…” Of course the only love story in the film results in the death of one party, and there certainly aren’t any “ordinary” domestic scenes. “Avoid having the African characters laugh…” Predictably, the characters are much too busy fighting or being miserable to have much time for laughter but there are two or three occasions where a character dares to indulge in such an action. There is also the seen but silent white “bad guy” character who obliges the militia leader by supplying his troops with guns and drugs in an unfair exchange for the far more valuable diamonds.

The movie’s biggest failure is the lack of continuity. As it is sometimes difficult to tell when the characters are in the past and when they are in the present, there is a lack of engagement on the part of the audience. Overall though, I enjoyed the film and appreciated the light it has shed on some of the more appalling aspects of recent Nigerian history.

Review of Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation

Greetings everyone! Last Thursday I was fortunate enough to attend the opening night gala for the Pan African Film Festival where I was able to see a special screening of Namibia: The Struggle for Independence. Knowing very little about African history and even less about the hardships of Namibia I had no idea what to expect from the film, having forgotten the brief synopsis I’d read the day before. However, considering that people such as Isaiah Washington and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa had made it a point to clear their schedules in order to attend the crowded screening, I found that my interest had grown by the time the opening titles came on the screen.

Unfortunately, while I enjoyed certain aspects of the film, I found that my interest in the story began to fade sometime after the first hour, and this naturally affected my enjoyment of the movie as a whole since it clocks in at nearly three hours. There is a problem with continuity in the story, and it also seems that the filmmakers have attempted to cram too much factual information into the script, concerning themselves more with educating their audience than with entertaining it. (Of course there isn’t anything necessarily wrong with including lots of facts in a particular kind of film but when the film in question begins to feel more like a lengthy history lesson, it does make one wonder why the filmmakers didn’t opt to make a documentary film instead.) Had there been a bit less about facts and a little more character development, this might have been a more successful film.

The opening shots of the film immediately remind one of Binyavanga Wainaina’s essay “How to Write About Africa”. Wainaina writes, “There is always a big sky. Wide empty spaces and game are critical—Africa is the Land of Wide Empty Spaces.” The film opens with a shot of the teenaged Samuel Nujoma (future first president of Namibia) coming across a group of young boys singing a rebellious song about liberation. The sky features prominently in these early scenes and one gets the sense that Africa is indeed an enormous, wide-open space. The singing children are also herding their game along the seemingly endless stretch of desert sand and the audience is again reminded of the feeling of wide-open spaces, seeing that the children have miles to go before they reach their destination.

The editing of the story seems especially choppy when it comes to the development of Nujoma’s character. The story begins in 1945 when Nujoma is sixteen. The filmmakers then jump back to 1938 to give the audience a sense of what life was like under the oppression of the white South Africans, though this could easily have been done with bit of dialogue. Also, when the story takes a huge leap forward and Nujoma is suddenly a grown-up in the fifties, it is at first difficult to realize that this new actor is playing the same character the audience was introduced to earlier. Not only that but, as the story progresses, the cosmetic effects used to age Nujoma are almost laughably unrealistic to the point where they become distracting. (In all seriousness, the Santa Claus at my local mall probably had a more realistic looking beard than the one given to actor Carl Lumbly.) Given how far the film industry has progressed in terms of makeup and special effects, there is something inexcusable about a production team not being able to age an actor properly.

All of those complaints aside, there is a very satisfying feeling in *finally* seeing the Namibians gain their independence. In fact, the length of the film has a positive effect in that it emotionally drains the audience, giving the viewers a small idea of how exhausting it must have been for the Namibians to achieve their independence. By tiring its audience, the filmmakers are connecting this exhausting frustration to that which was felt by those Namibians who clamored ages for their independence. Had the filmmakers focused their energies on making the characters more defined and understandable, the audience would have had a clearer understanding as to the motivations of characters other than Nujoma, making the story more engaging, and the film more successful as a whole.

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Having *just* finished the incredible novel Things Fall Apart, I have to say that I feel all of the prominent characters were interesting and worth writing about. The characters are well-developed and I appreciate how conscious Achebe is in not allowing his characters to become stereotypical. Perhaps the best example of this effort comes from Achebe's character of Mr. Brown.

Here is a white character who is a kind of invader of Africa, being a missionary, yet he still manages to be likable because of his continued efforts to compromise and understand the ways of the people he is trying to influence. For example, by listening to the stories of the villagers rather than rejecting them as Reverend Smith does, Mr. Brown is showing a respectful sensitivity to the traditions of the Umofia tribe. Similarly, by encouraging the villagers to send their children to school, he is showing his respect for the tribe in that a) he thinks they are capable of learning, b) he knows that they will be subservient to those who can read and write, and c) he thinks villagers (like Nwoye) will be able to be capable of teaching their own rather than needing to only be taught by whites. By giving Mr. Brown such good qualities, Achebe is showing that there were white people came to Africa without selfish intentions.

Hello everyone!

For whatever reason I've refrained from creating a blog until today. Now, it's a requirement for one of my classes at CSUN so you can all expect to read a lot more from me in the weeks ahead. I hope that my entries are anything but boring.