Educational Media Reviews Online

This film is a drama that examines the conflict that often develops between personal needs and those of family and culture. Mory is a poet from the African nation of Senegal, who lives in France. He is married to a French women, Florence, with whom he's had three children. Their relationship is not a happy one, due in part his frequent unemployment. This situation is further complicated when he is contacted by his step-father, Djadji, back in Senegal. The old man demands that he take a second wife, as is consistent with the polygamist traditions of their culture. Mory resists this suggestion, for reasons that are both financial and emotional. Over the course of the film Mory tries with varying degrees of success to deal with these and the other pressures bearing down upon him. At the end he finds some piece of mind and a new sense of himself, but in a way that is difficult to understand and may leave some viewers confused and unsatisfied.

Mory’s conflict with his step-father is long running, and deals as much with the past as the present. Years ago he fell in love with a woman named Kumba, but both of their fathers opposed the relationship, and neither of the young lovers had the courage to defy them. Kumba was soon married off to a rich man she didn't love, and a heartbroken Mory left for France, hoping to leave his painful memories behind him. His present marriage to Florence has not soothed that pain, and in fact has only aggravated it, causing anguish for both of them. She has never understood him and his culture, and he often seems indifferent to her and their life together. When Florence sees the letter from Djadji demanding that he take a second wife, the suggestion shatters their already fragile relationship. She throws him out, and tells him never to return. He goes back to Senegal, hoping to flee his problems in France and resolve his conflict with his step-father. Once he arrives however, that conflict only intensifies! Djadji pressures him to marry Yacine, the daughter of his uncle Madi. He resists and is unwilling to commit himself, pointing out that he is unemployed and unable to support the family he already has, much less anyone else. Later Uncle Madi also confronts him, insisting that he make up his mind one way or another. As these various conflicts play out, Mory flashes back on his life with Kumba, his strained relationship with his abusive step-father, and his frequent attempts to please them both. He also remembers the most tragic moment of his life, when Kumba died in childbirth. Now, in remembering that terrible time, Mory finds the courage to assert himself, and he tells Djadji he will not marry Yacine. He accuses his Step-Father of ruining his life by destroying his relationship with Kumba. He tells Djadji and the rest of his family of his determination to live his life as he pleases, regardless of what the old man might think.

This film is in both French and Wolof (a language common in Senegal), with English subtitles. The audio quality is good, as is the picture, which is an interesting mixture of color and black and white footage. The role of Mory is played quite effectively by the film’s director, Moussa Sene Absa. He has constructed a film that is at once a drama and a political commentary. Mory’s life is not only a tragic story of abuse and lost love, but an example of the corrosive effects of both colonialism and Africa’s tradition of patriarchy. The lives of Mory and Kumba were destroyed by selfish Fathers in a society that grants men far too much control over the lives of their children. At the same time that society continues to be dominated, both culturally and economically, by its former colonial master France. This domination has impoverished the country, and forces young people to either work in the burgeoning (but often low paying) tourist industry, or to go to Europe to find work. If they take the latter option, as Mory did, they often find that it is difficult to find employment, and they have problems adjusting to a new society that neither respects nor welcomes them. The director has put together a film that has an important message and presents the viewer with interesting characters, but in the end fails to develop into an effective and compelling drama. In spite of its promising beginning, and the construction of a number of complex character relationships, the plot line is often choppy and hard to follow and takes its lead character through developmental leaps that are sometimes difficult to comprehend. Mory’s determination to take control of his life, coming as it does without warning at the end of the film, is a shock to the viewer, and as a result is extremely unsatisfying. He has been fretful and hesitant through most of the story, but then as if by divine intervention he inexplicably finds the strength to assert himself. Whatever mental and emotional barriers he must have overcome to reach that point are unexplained and left to the imagination. The storyline is interlaced with Mory’s beautiful poetry, which is read by him in voiceover and is meant to express his innermost feelings, but which fails to deliver sufficient insight into how his character is developing. Djadji’s self-destructive reaction to his stepson’s defiance is unexpected and also unexplained, and indicates he is struggling with inner conflicts that are equally unknown. No sooner has Mory discovered his own sense of self, when he seems to lose it again. We leave him sitting on his suitcase at the local pier, staring at the ocean, as if uncertain what to do with himself or where to go. In short, this film has interesting characters, but a stunted story that fails to develop those characters in a way that viewers will understand or be interested in.