Hyänen

Hyenes, Mambety's avent-guard, surrealistic film captures the real heart and soul of the human social and economical blood thirst for money, when stopping to think about the different animal symbols in this film like the hyena, vulture, and yes even the monkey; you can't help feeling ashamed to be part of the big machine, we call progress. than again is that not what human nature, or the nature of animals is all about? Survival of the fittest. Mambety not only nails the human viciousness and easily influenced character on the head, but he slaps you in the face with our greed. A real plus to this movie is the musical language of Wolof. a must see movie and language, which cannot be matched.

Hyenes is a foreign film from Senegal adapted from a play, The Visit, by Swiss playwright Friedrich Dirrenmatt. It is spoken in the local language with English subtitles.

This film is surreal. It makes political statements and explains how a poor, failing village becomes prosperous by the greed of it's residents and the revenge of one of it's former community members.

Linguere Ramatou, played by Ami Diakhate, was once a young women who left her home village under less than honorable terms and has now become wealthy. She returns to her village to bestow a large sum of money so that the poor village can become a prosperous city. However, she seeks revenge upon her once seducer Dramaan, played by Mansour Diouf.

Dramaan had abandoned Ramatou when they were young forcing her to go to the city to engage in "the oldest profession." Now, Dramaan is an elder grocer granting good on credit to the unemployed villagers whom come to his store much to the displeasure of his wife and co-store keeper.

The villagers, learning that Ramatou is returning after many years to bestow money upon the village, appoints Dramaan the local mayor and instructs him to once again "woo" Ramatou so that she will make a large contribution to the village of Colobane.

What happens next is a surreal tale of how Dramaan fawns over his once love and her reactions to this lover from long ago.

The simple actions of Dramaan are often funny as well as the actions of the village's local officials. Ramatou is willing to provide the large endowment to the village on one condition. You need to see the movie to know that condition and how a "soul" is traded for the donation.

The village customs are interesting for Westerners whom may have little or no knowledge of some African customs. It is a little difficult to follow the fast movie English subtitles while listening to the dialogue in Senegalese. The film may need to be viewed more than once for the Westerner to fully comprehend the story and motivations of the principal players.

A stunning adaptation of Friedrich Durrenmatt's coldly brilliant play, The Visit, HYENES (hyenas) actually improves on the story by transposing the action to a Senegalese village. A fabulously wealthy old woman, who was born in the village but run out in disgrace as pregnant youth, returns and promises the villagers a fortune on one condition: that they kill the man who ruined her, an aged man who is the town's popular, good-natured grocer.

By moving the story from Durrenmatt's European setting to a dirt-poor African village, all the tensions are heightened, and the director Mambety sets the huge issues in high relief against the desert backdrop: justice, betrayal, revenge, guilt, greed (or need?), loyalty, and charity are played out in a searing (and searingly beautiful) desert, filmed with the grace of Bergman and written with the wryness of Bunuel. There are no good guys. It's up to you if there are bad guys. Everyone is a predator.

A once-prosperous Senegalese village has been falling further into poverty year by year until the village's elders are reduced to selling town possessions to pay debts. Linguère, a former resident and local beauty, now very rich, returns to this, the village of her birth. The elders hope that she will be a benefactor to the village. To encourage her generosity, they appoint a local grocer, Dramaan, as mayor -- who once courted her and will now try to persuade her to help.

This is an adaptation of Friedrich Dürrenmatt's Swiss-German satirical play "The Visit", which I am not familiar with, so I will have to judge the film on its own merits. Knowing nothing of Senegal, I love how they really used the village and surroundings and made it a crucial part of the film. The story is strong and funny in its own way, but I think the locale is a bigger selling point. I've never been anywhere in Africa, and certainly not Senegal... this made a strong visual impression on me.

Watched this 30 years after its creation and am very glad I did.

A short review : the way it seems I am should feel about Fellini, I feel about this film. I enjoy some Fellini films, but for whatever reason I felt more connected to this tale.

This film has plenty of spectacle. I mention fireworks, but a carnival in fact sprouts forth from the land (and the pursue of the dishonored woman returning to her home town).

There are both metaphoric and literal hyenas circling the town. The casting of Ami Diakhate was great and this the only film she ever made as far as I can tell. Feels like that might be a story in itself.

Just read an interview with the director (who died 7 years after this film from lung cancer, perhaps a colonial-induced cancer?) Anyways I think he was just a vibrant artist and able to guide dreams both as the director of the film and as a character within it. A master puppeteer never lets you see the strings.

That scene towards the end where Diakhate's character meets with her former lover/enemy/despoiler/mayor/public enemy is rather remarkable. From gazing out at the ocean together sharing an intimate smoke, to Diakhate descending into what looks like a tomb watching from afar as the mayor meets symbolic hyenas on the outskirts of town.

Such a smooth dream-like portrayal of a jarring event.

Next up for me "Touki Bouki"