Moolaade

In the words of Rodger Ebert “ Sometimes I seek the right words and I despaired.” No other line rings more true than such when relating to the subject matter for the 2004 film, Moolaade. Brougt to light by Ousmane Sembene, a man who is critically referred to as the father of African film and Co-ventured by eight other countries, it would be easy to confuse this piece with a light hearted flick at first glance. The acoustics bend the viewer’s ear towards the sounds of Burkina Faso and bring our eyes to the brightly colored scenery of the small village where Sembene searched diligently for months to find.

Moolaade is a film about protection, change, desire and tradition. It is about the “Purification” ritual within this community in Africa. A pyramid power struggle rises up in the community between the men and women, family units and elders. This only prolongs the terrifying and potentially lethal question and process looking over the heads over those who would seek solace to avoid it.

Colle (Fatoumata Coulibaly) is the second wife of twice as many, wed to a powerful and highly respected man. She had refused to involve their own daughter in the purification which had long since rendered her undesirable and unsuitable to wed. The status of being taboo jeopardizes Amsatou’s (Salimata Traore), engagement to a hep and modernized man who is set to inherit the highest standing in the village. She turns her back on tradition, resists the cohesion of the community, her family- even endures a public beating by her husband. She takes it all to spare these young girls from the time honored practice of genital cutting. She is stubborn. She is strong. She is the superhero. Adorned on Colle’s chin is a tattoo which extends from her inner gum to the bottom of her chin. She is a rare woman, and none other sports this.

When it becomes time for another group of girls to become purified and cut, six of them escape. Knowing her history with the process four flee to Collie’s residence and beg for refuge. She grants them Moolaade, a protective spell which can not be undone nor denied until she herself does the taking back. The power struggle soon follows as word spreads she has granted these girls protection and is keeping them from the cutting ceremony. The elders, in their infinite wisdom, send out an order that all radios must be removed from the women’s custody. Modern ideas.

Female genital mutilation is a common practice in Africa, Egypt, Somalia and many other countries. And while reasons and techniques vary, Moolaade focus on religious connotations towards the act. There are many botched jobs and impoverished families perform the ritual with rusty knives and rocks, but still it goes on. The film never states what type of cutting is carried out here (infibulation or clitoraldectomy) but we do get a sense of alterations done to the genital. The night Collie’s husband returns home from long trip away they bed together. The ‘surgery’ not only removes pleasurable sensation during sex from the women who receive it but also makes it excruciatingly painful. After being ripped open at her purified surgical site Collie’s third wife comes to her aide. Still, up until this point even the women support this process.

This was Sembene’s last film at the age of 93. As his last work it comes to speak volumes. In an interview with Bonnie Greer in 2005 ( link below) he expressed his wish for the telling of this culture’s struggles, by this culture and his hope to do it justice. The film presents this harsh and controversial subject matter in a subtle and slow approaching way. For me, the impact lingers long past the credits.





Ousmane Sembène at Sundance



http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2005/jun/05/features

Hunger

The basic unit of measurements in a film is weighed out in shots, or clips. Cut from a slightly longer version to the finished product to yield around five to six seconds each, there are thousands of shots in every movie you view. Just as a minute is comprised of 60 seconds, the average time length for holding any single pose rarely lasts beyond this time frame. As we view a film the shots bounce round constantly from scene to scene so that we may experience the reactions of those around the camera from all angles, without actually being there. Being trained from infancy to accept this it seems slightly absurd to question the logic of the sequence or to break it down as such.

Hunger (2008 Steve McQueen) is comprised of three sections, the second of which is 20 minute medium shot which is played out straight through by main character’s Michael Fassbender and Rory Mullen. This kind of a shot was chosen artfully by director Steve McQueen to give you a taste of the solitude, the ambiance and the growing dramatic dialogue between these two at this time. The majority of clips aren’t shot past the 30 second mark, so for one 40 times this length is no small feat. The remaining few minutes of this section is shot in an eye-level close up, while Bobby Sands (Fassbender) recounts a relatable story from his childhood to the Priest (Mullen), to capture the intensity and reminiscence being conveyed.

This film is highly political, centered near Belfast in 81’s and documents the imprisonment of Irish republican prisoners as they make their way through the system. We are subject to the viewing of police in riot gear beating the absolute shit out of those in the institution, regular anal and oral checks, and the crafty ways inmates smuggle items in through different bodily orifices during visitation.

 On the flip side of that we also see a side of the war as viewed by the guards, one in particular named officer Raymond Lohan (played by Stuart Graham. We first meet him at home while dressing for his day at work. He wakes, has breakfast with his wife and checks his car for a bomb. Everything he does is in paled out colors and everywhere he goes is in silence when compared to the activity of the job and the outside world. His marriage suffers, he suffers, and everyone is suffering. There is no part of what he does that is allowed to stay at work without him.

Riddled with unabashed violence scattered all throughout, Hunger is not for the faint of heart.  The highlights being the director’s capacity to play up the acoustics from one scene to another and transition beautifully from sequence to sequence. This is a terrifyingly beautiful picture and never have I been more engrossed, turned off or disheartened while viewing something in my life. I would highly recommend it.

Unique twenty minute shot inside the prison walls.