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At Brown University this evening I saw this film with a friend. We both liked aspects of it, but I enjoyed it more. The visuals were great, the village depicted was pretty, as were the brightly colored cloths. I like the way the film starts as a folk story by a narrator. The production values are not "western", and there are times when too little light is used. It is good though to see a raw film now and then. I like the way the camera was stationary at times and others very rough movements. The story is a combination of fantasy and folklore (a tinge of Greek Tragedy too), with a good base of reality. I think the viewer was not meant to understand everything that occurs. If you like to try new things, this film is for you.

Sissoko originally had trouble with making this film in Mali because the Government thought the topic was too anti-political. With some fast talking Sissoko told them the movie is set in the past and has no association with the present. The pollies brought it and Sissoko was allowed to make a fable about a nasty village leader and his spoiled son. A village girl promised from birth to wed the son refuses him and the village leader as well. This sets the motion for a Shakespeare in Africa tale, full of witchcraft and women with large rumps.

This movie packages itself as a tale. It's the story of a small West African village ruled by a tyrant and his son. The movie starts and ends as a folk story told by a narrator. Myth and reality become one. And above all, there's a lesson to be learn. Not even a tyrant is free from justice. Sometimes, it comes later rather than sooner, but the results is the same. This film is a treat for the eyes. It's visually stunning. And the cast (of no professional background) is doing a fine job.

Seen at home, in Toronto, on March 13th, 2006.

81/100 (***)

Using a mythic atmosphere and quasi-period costumes and sets, the film tells a parable of near-universal applicability about the corruption of power. One can see in this the story of Burma, for example, where gems are represented by sex, or where Aung San and his memory are represented by the Hunter. But because it was intended to tell the story of Mali, it confuses the non-African viewer with too many references. A second viewing is well worth it, especially if you try to see its parable-like nature.

This film has beautiful scenery and a story of an evil ruler and his dwarf son. It is so interesting because it is not told from a Hollywood style point of view. It is hard to explain except that the dwarf son doesn't want to marry the most beautiful girl in the village...he wants to marry her mother! But she's already married. So the ruler must get rid of her husband by banishing him. Then the ruler wants to marry the daughter, that he originally wanted for his son. The husband of the woman gets an army of others to try to topple the evil tyrant. Interesting..... a great film for the production location, the manner in which the story is told, etc. (Hollywood would have jammed it with a loud booming soundtrack, and had more blood and violence.) Rent it. You won't be sorry. But you may have to watch it twice to catch everything.

Excellent film. A great glimpse into a small village in West Africa with African mythos and magic realism . Definitely an African film made by an African storyteller, not a film about Africa told through a Eurocentric lens.

If interested in African culture, and don't like being spoon fed all details, you'll enjoy this one.