As he makes his debut behind the camera, director Téno reveals the atmosphere around the choice for polygamy in his region of origin. Through this live documentary he visits the implications, better still the objectives of polygamy as evoked in one scene; the need to populate the village, and a quest for recognition, making it to a certain status.
Filmed quite simply and quite negligent about the editing and music, this picture nevertheless portrays the realities of the local culture in quite a faithful manner.
The intervention of a Protestant Pastor, accompanied by religious chants, all in the setting of a traditional marriage punctuated by rituals and blessings, seems to seal another union, quite a controversial one in these parts, between the local traditions and foreign religions.
The characters constantly swap from the French language to their dialect, the latter being subtitled. As such it is easier to discover the impact of local proverbs, sayings, etc used by family and friends to explain and express the local perspective of love within a polygamous household:
· A parent says " In polygamy the new wife must conjugate the verb 'to withstand' in the past, present and future tenses..." in her daily life so as to remember she must not falter.
· In an attempt to express the importance/implications of polygamy, a close friend of Alex says " When a man has one wife, he is making a proposal for marriage, when he has two, he is a fiancé, and when he has three he is married."
When Elise mocks at Joséphine, her new co-wife, the narrator fails to get any more answers to his questions from the former. He tells of his urge to break the silence on the cons of polygamy within his region, "... for his mother, yesterday, for Joséphine and for Elise, today, and for his daughter tomorrow.
