BAMAKO
(The Court)
© 2006 by C. E. Murphy. All Rights Reserved.
An image from Bamako
Directed by Abderrahmane Sissako,
France / Mali

Photo Credit: Les Films du Losange
    
                                                                       BAMAKO made news during the
                                                            New York Film Festival because before it
                                                            was screened for the press, it had been
acquired for theatrical release by New Yorker Films. The film is a polemic about
Western treatment of African nations and takes the form of a mock trial at which
organizations like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are the
defendants. Juxtaposed against this legal proceeding are the mundane tasks
that the residents of the area of the Malian capital; a couple breaks apart,
women do their laundry as well as dye cloth, a wedding party interrupts the
proceedings, etc.

        Filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako clearly has an agenda and it certainly
is an honorable one. He allows his mostly nonprofessional cast to speak
about the hardships they have faced and the lies they have endured at the
hands of colonial forces. He also includes a few moments where the complicity
of the African nation itself is questioned. It's heady stuff and certainly fits
in with the current world situation.

        But it also struck me as a having more than a whiff of preaching to the
converted. I'm not entirely certain that the film will reach the audience who
should see it. Instead, it will appeal to those who already share the director's
viewpoint.

        While worthy, BAMAKO suffers somewhat from its structure. Some
of the testimony becomes so complicated that unless you are an expert, you
might tune out (as I found myself doing). The contrast of the villagers is
a nice conceit, but I'm not entirely convinced that Sissako fully integrated the
idea. And the inclusion of a mock spaghetti western starring Danny Glover
that is seen briefly on a television set comes across as heavy-handed.


                        Rating:                C -
                        Running time:      115 mins.