BAMAKO
A heartfelt primal scream for justice
The Popcorn Reel Movie Review: "Bamako"
By Omar P.L. Moore/May 30, 2007
Advocates for Africa: Some of Africa's proponents in a scene from a local town
hall meeting in Abderrahmane Sissako's "Bamako", which opens in the U.S. in
select cities on Friday, June 1. (Photo courtesy of: New Yorker Films)
If ever there was a film that literally cried out for the
world's attention and for your attention, then it is this one. "Bamako",
directed by Abderrahmane Sissako, who was one of the Festival jurors of the
just-concluded 60th Cannes Film Festival, is a vital contribution to the ongoing
discussions about the World Bank and its relationship to the African continent,
one that many ordinary observers and experts would characterize as a
"master-slave" relationship.
As one of Bamako's residents says, the World Bank has been one of the most
significant contributors to the pauperization of Africa. Bamako is the
capital city of Mali, the African nation where the film's town hall meeting is
being held and televised and on radio. The town hall meeting is, to coin a
phrase, "the trial of the century" as ordinary Bamako residents step forward to
argue their cases in front of a panel of three judges. There are also
arguments from lawyers on both sides of the issue, and all parties involved are
moving, articulate and compelling. For those arguing that the World Bank
has devastated Africa, the arguments are strong, heartfelt and impassioned.
One resident speaks before the panel in such a profound and resonant way that
those who speak English understand what he is saying, even though he doesn't
speak in English. He is talking and sounding in his native language, and
he is in essence a griot -- it sounds most as if he is speaking through his
ancestors' ancient tongues to deliver his message of anger, rage, pain, but most
clearly, a primal scream for justice for a once-glorious, grand and innovative
continent full of great history and the origin of human civilization that is now
still struggling with the after effects of the yolk of centuries-long
oppression, colonialism and enslavement.
The whole town of Bamako is enraptured by the trial. Many are riveted,
others are indifferent.
"Bamako" provides viewers with a glimpse of some of the Mali town's residents'
daily lives, and there is an affectionate look at the town's local television
station's news and programming, which on one night is a western film that
features none other than Danny Glover, who makes a cameo appearance during the
televised film. The film-within-a-film is a small dose of comic relief for
both the moviegoers who see "Bamako", and the town's residents who have been
listening or watching the trial. During this time we see how families
bond, how a father loves his young child, how a mother marshals the family
together around the television set, and how a town also goes about its business,
before, during and after the town hall meeting, a trial of sorts. "Bamako"
offers assorted dramas within the families of Mali's capital city, but these are
backdrops to the film's center. The meeting, which is the indispensable
core of this immensely important and thought-provoking film, is one first step
among many towards more dialogue around the world about the World Bank, which
incidentally is based in Washington, D.C., and whose now-former president Paul
Wolfowitz, one of the major architects of the Iraq war, was forced to resign
from his position just about a week ago because of improprieties in compensation
pay to his girlfriend, who also once worked at the World Bank.
The director captures the issues affecting Africa and the ordinary everyday
lives of residents are chronicled with lingering camera shots. Mali is
filmed in all its color and beauty, and the camera of cinematographer Jacques
Besse captures it well. "Bamako" isn't really a feature film; it plays
more like a documentary without a narrator. The film's residents are the
narrators and they hold their own and speak their peace plainly, and unfiltered.
Even with the film's English subtitles, we don't just hear the townsfolk, we
listen to them. Whatever an audience feels comfortable categorizing
"Bamako" as, there's no denying that it is a film that must be seen, because it
has a pertinent role to play in the discussions about the World Bank. Mr.
Glover is the film's executive producer, and without the
actor-activist-humanitarian's presence "Bamako" may not have been made at all.
Mr. Glover will soon start filming a story many in the U.S. are not familiar
with: the first and largest revolution by a black population in the western
hemisphere: by Haitians, who in the mid-1800's revolted against the invading
colonial French, defeating them and gaining independence for Haiti.
Toussaint L'Ouverture led this brave battle and triumph, and Mr. Glover's film
"Toussaint" will chronicle the history that more people will be exposed to.
"Bamako" is a major, monumental living, breathing chronicle that is critical in
capturing the zeitgeist, but this zeitgeist is timeless.
"Bamako" which screened at the 50th San Francisco International Film Festival
earlier this month, will open on Friday, June 1 around the U.S. in select
cinemas, and will expand thereafter. The film is not rated by the Motion
Picture Association of America, but features some scenes of violence, which are
from the television western where Mr. Glover makes his cameo. "Bamako" is
in French and Bambara languages, and subtitled in English. The film's
duration is one hour and 58 minutes.
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