Banel & Adama

Banel & Adama could be summed up as a stylised version of Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart but set in a drought-stricken Senegalese village and with added cultural complications. It's very well-made, with real visual flair and a painterly eye; among the many stylistic touches, look out for the near-obligatory dolly zoom. Initially we sympathise with the main protagonist but her love story and character soon reveal themselves to be much darker than they appear. And there's the rub: there is a lot of actual cruelty and death inflicted on various animals, most of it by her as an outlet for her conflicted mental state, and I soon found myself losing all sympathy and willing the film to end. But it only gets worse.

In several long interviews posted on YouTube, the director talks about her wish for the film to be seen and appreciated internationally, to present a non-stereotyped view of her home country, different to that which most Westerners see in the news. But the abundant, wanton animal killings, which could easily have been faked or implied rather than seen, is an egregiously retrogressive choice and I don't understand why the film's many plaudits and distributors completely fail to mention it, especially in this supposedly more enlightened day and age. I can only ascribe it to a form of inverse racism, causing it to be excepted from the usual consensus that animal suffering in the name of so-called art is wrong and utterly indefensible.

Overall, despite the film's many excellent technical and storytelling qualities, it was a gruelling watch and by the end I hated myself for having stayed put and not walking out at the first sign of where it was headed.

This very beautiful and rich in color fable tells us about a young couple who live in a primitive Senegalese village and apparently have been in love with each other since they were kids. Without knowing that, Banel is a desperate female rights activist for herself: she's ambitious, rebellious, direct, honest and strong. However, Adama though sharing Babel's vision is more subjected by what customs dictate to him. Additionally, the village (as well as the world) is facing a climate crisis so decisions have to be made now. The cattle die of scorching heat, food and water is scarce. The villagers find their salvation in a Muslim prayer, but will it help?

The film brings up a lot of modern topical issues regardless of the fact that the village community dwells in the old times.

Who will hear Babel's voice? Won't it be too late?

Banel & Adama seems to be a personal project by the French screenwriter and director of Senegalese origin, Ramata-Toulaye Sy. This was her first feature film, in which she courageously takes on the dual role of writing and directing, after having directed a short film, Astel, in 2021, and having written two scripts for others, Sibel in 2018, for television, and Notre Dame du Nil, an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Scholastique Mukasonga, made in partnership with Atiq Rahimi, the film's director, in 2019.

Banel & Adama is far from being an ordinary film. Refined in its script, cinematography, and settings, it seems more like a poem to the African woman, incapable of loving and being loved, permanently buried in a struggle for survival that involves her, her partner, and all the members of the community.

A beautiful film, with great sensitivity that, deep down, seems to convey a universal reality. How many of us have not been forced to put survival or career before love? And how many do not look back nostalgically at the opportunities lost along the way?

You don't have to live in the scorching Senegalese desert to share the anxieties and frustrations of the young Banel & Adama.

This is just a gorgeous film with great screenwriting, stunning cinematography and masterful directing. Actors are more than fantastic. Sceneries are breathtaking. Real visual simphony. Flawless rhythm of editing. Smoothness of mise-en-scène and camera movements are astonishing. Oniric parts of film are so well made, that they feel like an eye-massage. Storytelling feels magical. Relationships between people are wonderfully, yet simply presented. Besides the beauty of this film, you really feel like you lived in this harshness of African climate and you find yourself in the middle of this very human story and share the struggle of these people. This film is a pure masterpiece.