Burkina Faso may not be the most prominent country in any world atlas, but the tiny African nation has an eloquent spokesperson in director Idrissa Ouedraogo, who combines elements of folk tale and tribal myth in a remote, contemporary setting not far removed in spirit from the American Wild West. The story outlines the tragic fate of two lovers separated by circumstance and village custom on the eve of their wedding, when the groom's father decides to marry the bride himself in his son's absence. Some (not unexpected) stilted acting from the non-professional cast (mostly relatives of the director) is balanced against the uncluttered dramatic appeal of the scenario, downplayed even after the protagonists are driven by the local code of honor into incest, murder, and suicide (even the inevitable violent ending is relatively quiet).
The deliberate pace requires some adjustment, but it's a pleasure to watch a film not automatically made with the home entertainment market in mind, and the spare but handsome imagery is perfectly matched to a subtle, expressive jazz score by Abdullah Ibrahim. In its own undemonstrative way the film marks the emergence of a world-class director, still hard at work in his own backyard but poised on the brink of wider recognition.
