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jasonhahnfl
Reviews
Kirikou et la sorcière (1998)
Cute,Fun,Unique and overall enjoyable
I felt that the animated film Kirikou and the Sorceress, directed by Michel Ocelot, and was an enjoyable film. Ocelot does a great job portraying African culture in a fun and traditional manner.
This culturally rich African folklore presents a classical hero story which was great because of the unique manner in which it was presented. Although the film was your typical hero story, it was the introduction of an unlikely hero that first got me. Little baby Kirikou, fresh out of the womb; lighting quick and very wise is what first took me out of my comfort zone. In addition to our hero being a naked infant, all the characters run around topless which wasn't bad thing, just different. The movie was very simple and yet very complex at the same time. Simplistically speaking it was the actual story line, the graphics, the communication between characters it all very direct meaning if there was a problem the character would state the problem and then how he should fix it, which made the story easy to follow. The colors in this film made it clear how you were suppose to feel. With technology and the evil sorceress being represented in dark colors and culture, tradition seen as the village represented in light colors and fun music. I felt the complexity lied in the overall message the movie was trying to convey and by many people this message could be interpreted in different ways.
Overall I enjoyed the movie because it conveyed a serious message in a fun and entertaining manner. As I stated before, the movie was culturally different for me but this unique experience also kept the movie exciting. I would recommend this film to anyone who likes anime-folklore films or almost any Disney fan of any type because I felt this film had a strong "Disney" element to it. Disney element, basically meaning the film was friendly and the manner in which they told their story was cute and fun.
Twist à Popenguine (1994)
REview
Moussa Sene Absa does a nice job portraying the American and French influence in Popenguine from multiple perspectives with many different attitudes in his 1994 film Ça Twiste à Poponguine. The manner in which colonization is depicted in Senegal around the mid 1960s was very light and peaceful.
The cultural differences and how others reacted to one another I thought was done very nicely. We are first introduced to these two group of teenagers known as the "Kings" and the "Inseparables". Both of these groups are very into French, American music, clothing, culture and even take on corresponding nicknames. On the other side we are shown a majority of the male elders who are more traditional in style and in general.
The male elders were regarded as a father to all and seemed to dislike the younger generations obsession with the western culture from their academics to their clothing. The elder women seem to be a mix of both, although culturally they were more traditional it was as if they had accepted the French influence in academics with some importance and validity as we saw them quizzing the children in the film. Most interesting to me was Mr. Benoits struggle with the cultural differences.
Throughout the film we are shown how the people of Popenguine encounters with each other and their multiple cultural points of view. However Mr. Benoit a teacher from France who was highly regarded by the towns people as a good guy seems to be in turmoil. Mr Benoit preaches about how the cultures needed to give and take from one another to make things work. Sadly Mr. Benoits drunken rant in the bar began to say things to the opposite effect however it later turned out that he himself did not who he was or where he belonged and his drunken statements did not represent his true feelings because he actually felt more at home in Popenguine than France. Overall I found this amazing it was as if the colonizer was turning into the victim compared to those who had been colonized. Yet it was the colonized people who helped the colonizer feel at home.