Xala

Seen any decent Senegalese films recently? Ones from 1974, with French subtitles? If you haven't stopped reading already, then...Xala means "Curse of impotence", which gets placed on a corrupt businessman, when he passes over his older wives for a "new" virgin one.

Though it looks very 1970's, with rather tepid colour and and a somewhat tinny sound, this very good film from Ousmane Sembene is as good as contemporary cinema gets in home-grown Africa. My viewing was for the 2nd time on Film 4, admittedly screened in the small hours.

It's actually an excellent snapshot of many an African country coming to terms with their new-found independence. Native rituals and traditions still run deep, against the new found idealism of political freedom. But, mega corruption amongst Ministers and Officials is rife and the script has savage satire running through it, that could be applicable anywhere. Whilst they bemoan and decry their now departed Colonial forebears, they have become addicted to their Mercedes limos and material excesses and readily abuse their power at will.

Some describe Xala as a sex comedy - comedy is going a bit far but there is pleasure indeed to be found in strong-charactered women, beacons for the future brow-beating their men-folk and the then rather pathetic reactions from them. Take away a powerful man's effectiveness of his penis and he is no longer powerful. That is a broad and slightly inaccurate metaphor, of course, but you can see where this is going.

Xala is pretty long and requires some staying-power but is embellished with some good music and performances. The story overall is a surprisingly universal and approachable one.

I love international films and have already seen many African films, so my not being in love with "Xala" has nothing to do with its roots. The bottom line is that while the story is very interesting, the story is so incredibly slow and poorly constructed that it loses much of its punch. It's really a shame, as basic story idea is great.

The film begins with a cute scene where the white colonial powers are replaced by black ones--and you see that there really is no change. Instead of a white kleptocracy*, there is now a black one--either way, the people of a fledgling African republic are screwed. The main character in the rest of the film is Mr. Hadji. Hadji is a minister in the new government and is going to celebrate his new wealth by marrying for the 3rd time--even though, as it turns out, he is over-stretching his finances. Sure, he IS rich by African standards but the money soon disappears--leaving him not only metaphorically impotent but literally so! This is a great metaphor for hypocrisy and greed in post-colonial Africa.

So why wasn't I bowled over by the film? Well, the biggest problem was the pacing. While the film runs over two hours, it could easily have been done in 75 minutes and the leaden pace is a serious problem. Additionally, the film, as it's captioned now, is a seriously flawed picture as the captions are, at times, almost impossible to read. White captions don't work well here and too many times I struggled to read them. Overall, an interesting curio from a historical sense, but a film that would be very difficult viewing for the average person.

*A kleptocracy is a government typified by rampant corruption and stealing and the good of the people is irrelevant.

One of the more famous African films, Xala comes from Senegalese director Ousmane Sembene, who had a well liked film that saw fairly wide release last year called Moolaadé. Moolaadé, for some reason, hasn't been released on DVD yet in the US, and, so far, it doesn't look like there's any imminent release. New Yorker video has provided us with two new DVDs from Sembene, this and Mandabi. Xala tells the story of a corrupt government official, El Hadji, who marries his third wife using pilfered funds. When El Hadji goes to consummate his marriage, he finds out he has been cursed with impotence, a curse known as xala. The historical context is slightly after Senegal's independence is achieved, and there are obvious metaphoric meanings of the impotence. The story and the politics behind it are rather interesting, and if I were the type to judge films solely on their politics I'd call this a good one. Unfortunately, the film moves so ungodly slowly that it is next to impossible to sit through. It runs for slightly over two hours, but has only about half that much material. I might recommend it to those interested in the history or just the region, but the rewards are limited. In short, it's a chore.

It was in 1963 that seeds of filmmaking were sown in Ousmane Sembène's mind when he finished a short course on cinema in Moscow. For a long time his contribution to the field of art and culture was known through his films. However, it must be noted that his contribution to the field of literature has been equally outstanding. Senegalse film "Xala" is based on one of his own books. Watching this film, one is constantly drawn to the conclusion that justice has been done to both works of art. As a director, Sembène made full use of all minor as well as major incidents described in his book to depict a nation where some corrupt as well as influential politicians are shown to make merry while ignoring the plight of ordinary, poor Senegalese people who find it difficult to come out of 'vicious circle' of poverty. Apart from his scathing assault on rampant corruption which unnerved Senegalese people immediately after their country's independence from France, Sembène directed all his anger at two principal scourges : cultural alienation and economic impotence. Although "Xala" has been classified as a comedy by many film critics, its political message cannot be overlooked. It is the reading of this message which would enable us to comprehend why the fortunes of some African countries were used by their leaders to further their own cause.

So far in my life, I've only seen two Senegalese movies: "Hyenas" and "Xala". The latter offers a satirical look at corruption.

The plot goes like this: following Senegal's independence from France, a crooked official - he makes sure that France still controls the country's resources - uses the country's money to get married for the third time. That's when poetic justice kicks in; he gets stricken with a curse called "xala", rendering him impotent.

If absolutely nothing else, this movie is a very impressive look at a culture that we in the west rarely get to see (and specifically, we get to hear Wolof spoken). Are the events portrayed cause for cynicism? Hard to say. But I recommend the movie either way.