Sarraounia

Hard to believe it's been a year since the death of Med Hondo, a radically versatile icon of African cinema. Few weeks back i revisited Sarraounia (1986) which is one of the most important film ever made, but remains underrated in Hondo's filmography as many cinephile know him only for Oh, Sun (1967) and West Indies (1979). Some might know his the man behind the "French voice" of actor Eddie Murphy.

Sarraounia (a title indicating a female chief or a lineage of female rulers) was the Queen of the Azna and and sorceress, who cleverly fought the French in the 1899 Battle of Lougou is celebrated as a hero for her resistance against European colonialism. Additionally, the battle sequences are remarkably gritty, which adds to the authentic tone of the film. And, composers Issouf Compaoré, Pierre Akendengué, Abdoulaye Cissé provides a sweeping and majestic score that's incredibly powerful and soothing. A groundbreaking film, Sarraounia does an exceptional job at depicting the valor. The film scores on several counts, cinematography is brilliant, music is apt. Aï Keïta is excellent in the title role and dominates the screen as the vengeful sorceress exuding a total awareness of her character's bruised mentality and delivering a performance that is as physical and insidiously threatening as the land upon which she is habitually defiled by the French. The film is very impressive, a larger than life actioner that isn't lacking in style and more importantly doesn't let the style destroy the credibility. There is a lot to see, hear and experience in Sarraounia. It is an accomplished and stimulating cinematic experience from the Legendary Med Hondo.

One of Hondo's later films, and probably a change in style, this is great filmmaking again. This one is a true epic, stretching the tyrannical and brutal advance of a French army through sub-Saharan Africa and their face-off with the fabled queen named Sarraounia, feared terribly as a powerful witch. The film is elegantly shot and under the cover of a war drama, Hondo leaves traces of his caustic take on colonization as well. In an entertaining, involving and medieval setting, the film provides us great insights into the diversity of Africa, the culture of its people and the bitter, bloody truth hidden behind westernization. The army commander leads his army on, destroying villages on the way using a black army from Sudan, finally halting before the unity and resilience of Sarraounia's people. Eventually, the soldiers declare mutiny, refuse to further kill their own brothers, and strike back in a vengeful way to teach the power drunk and insane commander a lesson. The music, again, is beautiful; it was soothing to the ears. In layers, this is a black comedy too, a take on the superstitions of Africa, a take on the power and glory addiction of the Frenchmen; but not as well done or striking as Oh, Sun. This film is beautiful to look at and a great lesson in history, but the acting pulls back what could have been much better.

It is easy to misread the marketing for this movie and expect it to be very different, mainly because of the name, but the movie actually focuses quite a bit on the French troops. The titular Sarraounia is shown every once in a while, but doesn't really get that much to do.

Maybe that is as it should be. She is a symbol of the resistance. Just watching her make speeches would definitely get boring, while the inner squabbles of the French have a very different tension than what we usually see in a war movie.

This does feel a little strange in the sense that the hero of the movie is just living her life while the bad guys fall apart on their own. Captain Voulet, as the commander, does his best to keep his troop together, but that is a huge hill to climb and we have no reason to like him. The other memorable officer is the unit doctor, who is there more or less against his will, but is trying his best under impossible conditions.

Because of the point of view, this movie is not going to be for everyone. Like Hondo's movies in general, the movie is about the impact and racism of the colonial projects of the French to the peoples of Northern Africa, so it's not going to be for everyone. For those more interested in these obscure movies, I wouldn't say it's quite on the level that you should definitely seek it out, but since you should seek out West Indies and the easiest way to find that is probably the box set in which you can find this one as well, you definitely shouldn't dismiss this.