Divine Carcasse 1998
Distributed by California Newsreel, Order Dept., PO Box 2284, South Burlington, VT 05407; 877-811-7495 (toll free)
Produced by Dominique Loreau and Underworld Films
Directed by Dominique Loreau
VHS, color, 60 min.
Adult
African Studies, Anthropology, Sociology
Date Entered: 11/09/2018
Reviewed by Charles Burkart, Head, Audiovisual Library, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26505California Newsreel is well known for their Library of African Cinema collection, which includes such titles as Hyenes, Yeelen, Zan Boko, Monday's Girls, and Lumumba: Death of a Prophet,. California Newsreel's latest offering, Divine Carcasse, is a short fictional film resembling a documentary. In fact, the fictional plot of Divine Carcasse could be a metaphor for the gross materialism of the West versus the easy-going spirituality of Africa.
The plot concerns the complications arising from a used automobile (French Peugeot) imported from aboard for a European living in Africa. The car turns out to be a lemon and is given to Joseph, the African servant of the unnamed European employer. Joseph tries operating the gift car as a taxi, but the car is unreliable. A concerned Joseph consults a diviner or witch doctor to determine the hidden cause of the car's failure. He finds out that a deceased maternal uncle is angry with him. As the ancestors exist close to the living in Africa, Joseph, heeding the ghost's anger, abandons the accursed car. Subsequently, the car is stripped down and its parts are made into an "Agbo", or divinity idol.
Divine Carcasse is in French with white English subtitles. Unfortunately, I had trouble reading the subtitles, as well as the closing credits. Something that film companies need to pay attention to. While the sound quality was very good, the color seemed somewhat washed out in parts of the video. This color fading may be due to the fact that I received a preview copy, rather than a standard copy for evaluation. I assume that the purchase version is better quality. Editing at times seemed slightly slow, but the film definitely improved with repeated viewing. Music and costumes were great and totally authentic.
Divine Carcasse is a marvelous film that could be used in a variety of academic settings. Certainly, college Anthropology and Religion classes could use this film. French language classes will like it as an example of French used outside of Europe. High school classes in Non Western Civilization could find this video a valuable discussion icebreaker. An extremely enjoyable film, Divine Carcasse is highly recommendeded.