I just saw it. It's really good. 8/10 or 9/10. Have to give it a bit of a thought. The movie is visually stunning. The yellow mosque is really one of the most beautiful things ever filmed. The whole village is in fact really beautiful.

My main problem was that the story felt a bit forced at times. The whole woman revolution didn't come as slick as it should have. Also dialogs are a bit childish at times (though maybe that has something to do with the English subtitles - they sure talked a lot for such a small sentences ). But overall a very interesting movie as far as the theme goes.

And it's really uplifting considering it's juggling with a very serious problem.

So any more great recommendations like this one???!?!?

Well, you've never actually joined one of these. I was being targetted. I hit up people who ended up really supporting B.E. and also some of the new members here who I noticed watch a lot of foreign, independent, and classics. I didn't mean it in a bad way, and like Christian, you know I would love for you to join and watch. I just didn't want to bug people with PMs that I didn't think would be interested. If you are, you should definitly join! Come on in!





Nah, you're getting a bit of the talk. I wouldn't say childish, but I would say directed. He's notorious for his desire to be explicit, because he said he did all his movies first and foremost for internal circulation. Hence Wolof in his earlier works and Bambara(?) here. Faat Kine had three women who regularly met for ice cream and basically spoke the hell out of some of the themes. Almost preachy and didactic. I found Moolaade to be much more subtle than that, but there are definitely parts that are extensively spelled out. Are you thinking of the radios?

The mosque/sanctuary was beautiful, and the colors are very vivid. I loved the short inserts representing spirits at the boundary of the doorway.



Very much so. I think its positive in the end, and also I liked how he credits neither exterior factors (Mercenaire, the returning son, the radios), nor interior ones (Colle, the runaway girls) as solely responsible for change. I think he finds a nice balance between the global and the local as far as potential contributors to revolutionary thought. Its a theme that has changed throughout his work. Personally, I feel his earlier work (literature and film) was completely different. He was far more agressive about demarcating the interior/local and exterior/colonial spheres of conduct.



Well, if you're interested in Sembene watch Barom Sarret. It was his first film and you can see how he has changed. Its much more neorealist (in the Italian sense), and it literally parallels a man losing his cart in the way De Sica had his star lose his bicycle. Very gritty and austere. I also really, really, really liked Mandabi. Its his least 'talkie' movie and really all the main points are just revealed in the main character's experiences walking around the city for a day. A man basically goes around Dakar trying to cash a check even though he is illiterate. Its also about his interactions with his wives, wealthy French, government agencies (corrupt of course) and locals who help him out when they can. Its another one of Sembene's film's that has grown on me as well.

I can do book recs by him too if you are interested, though I think I've made it clear I like Xala the most of his books that I have read.

Be.redy, the one thing I would love is maybe if you copy-and-asted your review into the Moolaade thread I had Nebs start in the critic forum. My method for recruitment usually involvs generating as much noise as possible for a movie in order to get people interested in seeing it. We really want to get everyone interested in this film now that it is finally accessable, and as you gave it a 8/9 out 10, I was hoping you would like to join us in getting the word out.

After some thinking I've decided to give it 9/10. It deserves it.



Ummm, for the most part the dialog sounds really natural, but there are parts where as you say it's strictly explicit and doesn't really sound like something they would say based on their previous lines. It was childishly simple. I didn't know it was his intent though. If so I personally think he made a small mistake there.

I'll c/p my words about the movie... No prob.

Hmmm...ok, dolce, I'll bite.

I'll put it to the top of the Netflix list if, in 30 words or less, someone tells me why Moolaade. Why the rabid fandom?

I'll make a list:

1. In the least, you get to learn about a man who had a major impact on the cinema of an entire continent.

2. I found the tone and style to be refreshingly different. If one compared Moolade to, say, Tsotsi, it managed to avoid the sort of Hollywood 'feel' of the latter without abandoning an uplifting and hopeful message.

3. He also really handled multiple weighty themes of feminism and globalism without becoming heavy-handed. There's actually a lot of humour and great character development. There are diverse opinions coming from all directions, men and women, local and international, about the main topic, female circumcision, and each main character has a complex relationship to the topic.

4. When you watch it, you feel Sembene really loved local flavor even while having an intense criticism of it. Ultimtately, as be.redy pointed out, he also manages to represent a serious topic with uplifting tones.

5. Its a well made and visually striking movie.

Hope that clinches your bite, even though it was a little more than 30 words?

@be.redy: Thanks for posting in the critics section and joining us. I am rewatching Moolaade this upcoming week, so I'll report back on what I thought of the dialogue. I do remember some very spelled out parts, but its been awhile since I've seen it. The one rental place left around here was all out of copies last night, but I am going to call and try to reserve it today when one copy is due back. If not, its first on the netflix queu. Either way, I'll be seeing it soon and it'll be interesting to think about what you mentioned.

I can do it in less than 30 words. There are tits in it.

Okay, FINALLY watching it - tomorrow. My absence has been work oriented - I picked up an extra shift on the day I planned to see it and haven't been off since. I'm incredibly hyped.

Can't wait to hear from you Zach. This thread/the forums need your energy, and I'm absolutely positive you'll like the film.

So, it's three in the morning and I've got work in a few hours, but suffice to say I thought it was gorgeous and incredibly, incredibly empowering (though not perfect). Lots more thoughts will come in the morning - I'll write a bit during slow periods at work.

Pretty much my memory of the movie as well. I'm getting edgy for it to arrive in the mail already so I can see it again.

I have looked in videostores here and none has the film available. Waiting for it to be shown on Spanish or German TV may take months or even years, so my only option is to download it.

That will take some time as my hard drive is completely full and I need to watch stuff first to get some free space. I will notify you when I finally manage to see the film and my opinion.

I noticed other films of Sembene that were available for download: Mandabi, La noir de..., Emitai, Ceddo, Xala and Camp de Thiaroye. In case anyone here has seen them, how would you rate them?

Loved Mandabi. Haven't heard great things from others about Xala, though I liked the book. Have also seen Faat Kine and Barom Sarret. Liked the latter a lot, wasn't too thrilled about the former. But Sarret is a totally different style, that he did much earlier with a different budget, and so forth. So it is interesting but very different. I'm still trying to get my hands on Black Girl, so if you see that one, let me know what you thought.

Thanks for joining in, Price!

Unfortunately, I was relegated to the dungeons of the library to watch this and did not get to see it on a monitor capable of showing off the wonderful, wonderful camera work here, but I could tell that this is definitely the most richly, textured film I've seen since The New World. Watch it if only for the powerful energy Sembene commands using the camera.

Otherwise, I appreciated the performances all around - very nicely layered and complimented by writing that doesn't reduce the characters (except maybe some of the saldina (sp?), which were vilified effectively but never humanized - though I can certainly appreciate why) to hollow stereotypes and gives them at least some humility/credibility. As many of you have pointed, the ability of Sembene to seamlessly weave from comedy to drama (he avoids melodrama and awkward disjunctures in tone, surprisingly) is extremely remarkable, and I appreciated his ability to clearly assert his/the character's case without being particularly didactic (this aint no Crash). That might be the single greatest grace of the writing, as this is pretty heavy stuff and it can, understandably, get heated.

It's just a wonderfully acted, charming (who knew female circumcision could be a warm subject?!) and humanist piece of cinema. You can walk away feeling inspired, uplifted and, well, happy. Good, good stuff.

And, to really beat the point in to Kjers who dig the aesthetics above all else - this is a gorgeeeeeous production. Stunning.

I wasn't invited to this party but I've decided to crash it. The film just came via netflix, I'll probably watch tomorrow.
I've always wanted to see Black Girl, although I never managed to get around to it, but hopefully this will be an adequate introduction to Sembene's work.

You're always welcome to crash. I just didn't know you were interested! My list of foreign/indie forum participants is clearly obsolete.

Can't wait to hear from you Snack.

And zennier, the 'warm subject' line made me laugh. I guess its kind of true, but I've never quite heard it said that way.

If anyone wants siggies from positive jon, he said he prepared some additional ones. Thanks again for participating. My copy came in the mail yesterday. I am going to watch it today or tomorrow.

Hmmm I guess I won't be able to check mail this weekend so it seems that Tuesday is best bet of watching this!

Here are the siggie-ready images I captured. Feel free to take one if interested.











And go Moolaade cult!

Apparently I have a way with words, lol. I've got a mentor of sorts working on his phd here and he had something similar to say. I think the sentence he was commenting on - part of a paper, iirc - was worded pretty uniquely, lol.

I really liked this film. I dunno what else to say - I didn't mention the handling of globalization as a secondary theme, but probably because its all i study - eeeh. I suppose there's not much to say about it. It's incorporated well enough and, again, pretty well handled. I really liked doucoure (is that how you spell it? the heir returning from paris) - I found his character to be really sympathetic - he was probably my favorite after colle. I think there's enough heart and soul in his character for a whole film, but that's just me. i think sembene has done one of the better jobs in handling that renegotiation of values - in spite of it being a constant theme in cinema/lit, he really succeeding in making it a wholesome supporting theme.

So I saw it today.

I really enjoyed it. It almost feels like a nice companion piece to Deepa Mehta's Water as they explore somewhat similar themes. It's also interesting to compare how both films approach their subject matters. Moolaade is definitely better in that it has more of a personality of its own whereas Water gives in to Hollywood conventions/cliches at times. The scenery is absolutely gorgeous.The rich colors really stand in contrast to something like Ceddo.

A-

Nice siggie! A few days from now Roid promised to change the color of our screennames too!

I never saw Water, I only remember seeing the trailer for it. The only film I've seen of hers' is Earth. I liked it enough, though. But I'm not sure how Water compares to it. Its an interesting comparison, although it sounds like you liked Moolaade a lot more. I think it did an interesting job avoiding cliches, as you say, because you can't categorize the supporters/opponents of circumcision clearly. It doesn't breakdown around age; Colle's daughter gets mad at her for a denied circumcision at one point. It doesn't break down around sex; two male characters are the biggest advocates for doing away with the practice while many women still support it. Both local and international voices press for change. I also found the family dynamic and the pressure the village exerts on Colle's husband to be an interesting storyline, which, results in the most upsetting part of the movie (to me anyways).

I am so happy you liked it. As I asked be.redy and zenneir, if you want to post a little something in the critics section, it would be much appreciated. I hope because everyone is talking so highly about the film, it will pique even more forum members' curiosity in seeing it!

Hmmm, what color should our screennames be?

Pink.

Or uhh...Yellow.

Pink! I'd go for it!

Moolaade reminds me of Water in that

1) Both films deal with themes of women being oppressed by a tradition in which religion is used to validate its practice.

2) Beautiful imagery.

3) Strong lead performance and even stronger supporting ones.

Yes, I definitely think Moolaade is much better. As I said Water does fall into a couple of cliches here and there (most notably the need for a love story) but it is also a passionate, very well made film that brings attention to an important issue. It's well worth watching (the best in Deepa Mehta's trilogy) and I really recommend you do so, dolce. And anyone else who hasn't seen it yet.

As for the names, I recommend something close to the color of the mosque in the film.

This I agree with. I just rewatched the film with my father (he loved it and chatted with me about it afterwards), and Hadjatou is still my favorite. "See, she's not totally crazy. She still has her respect for me."

The film definitely held up well over time. I liked it just as much as the first time I watched it. I'll write a full re-evaluation tomorrow.

i will hopefully be able to watch it this weekend.