Great movie. Extremely satisfying ending because you're just waiting and waiting for someone to do exactly that... and can't understand why they don't. It's like everyone is under the terrible spell of religious/political/tribal power-- which resides where men believe it resides, just like we learned in Game of Thrones. The politics and rituals were very interesting. It's sad though that even someone as famous as Sembene (among cinephiles at least) can't have better copies of his films readily available.
Ousmane Sembène's Ceddo has a similar look and feel to his earlier Emitaï, a kind of docu-drama that takes the camera back in time, using an entire Senegalese village as actors to reenact a historical event that would have happened everywhere in Africa. Traditions are not explained to a Western audience, so for non-Africans, the approach is rather anthropological. In Ceddo's case, it chronicles the religious strife caused by the arrival of an Imam who converts the king, forcing animist traditionalists to rebel. There's also a Christian missionary in the village, so a third religious faction must also exist even if it isn't particularly present. Now, there's a lot of pageantry, and the acting, often done for the assembly (courtroom-style), will be off-putting to Western audiences, but it's quite correct. The great evil of religion is forced conversion, which is often justified as the saving of souls, but is really just a means of control. I think the richness in Ceddo (which is the name given to the unbelievers of the new faith) is in the fact that everyone knows everyone else in the village EXCEPT for the intruding converters, who did not grow up there. It makes all the interactions more resonant, and the disruption more tragic. Visually, Ceddo is sumptuous and colorful. Aurally, it starts with cool traditional instruments, but goes out swinging with Westernized funky jazz, which may or may not work for you. In a way, the climax shares something with '70s blaxploitation films, but it has nothing to do with Islam, so the sound conversion doesn't match the story's. I find Sembène's films (this is my third) extremely important because they tell stories no one else tells, giving voice to a point of view of the conquered as opposed to the self-serving conquerors.
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jlfitz
Free here with English or French subs:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ipcync79CI
Shingwauk
Somehow the jazz music doesn't fit.ucuruju
Great movie. Extremely satisfying ending because you're just waiting and waiting for someone to do exactly that... and can't understand why they don't. It's like everyone is under the terrible spell of religious/political/tribal power-- which resides where men believe it resides, just like we learned in Game of Thrones. The politics and rituals were very interesting. It's sad though that even someone as famous as Sembene (among cinephiles at least) can't have better copies of his films readily available.Siskoid
Ousmane Sembène's Ceddo has a similar look and feel to his earlier Emitaï, a kind of docu-drama that takes the camera back in time, using an entire Senegalese village as actors to reenact a historical event that would have happened everywhere in Africa. Traditions are not explained to a Western audience, so for non-Africans, the approach is rather anthropological. In Ceddo's case, it chronicles the religious strife caused by the arrival of an Imam who converts the king, forcing animist traditionalists to rebel. There's also a Christian missionary in the village, so a third religious faction must also exist even if it isn't particularly present. Now, there's a lot of pageantry, and the acting, often done for the assembly (courtroom-style), will be off-putting to Western audiences, but it's quite correct. The great evil of religion is forced conversion, which is often justified as the saving of souls, but is really just a means of control. I think the richness in Ceddo (which is the name given to the unbelievers of the new faith) is in the fact that everyone knows everyone else in the village EXCEPT for the intruding converters, who did not grow up there. It makes all the interactions more resonant, and the disruption more tragic. Visually, Ceddo is sumptuous and colorful. Aurally, it starts with cool traditional instruments, but goes out swinging with Westernized funky jazz, which may or may not work for you. In a way, the climax shares something with '70s blaxploitation films, but it has nothing to do with Islam, so the sound conversion doesn't match the story's. I find Sembène's films (this is my third) extremely important because they tell stories no one else tells, giving voice to a point of view of the conquered as opposed to the self-serving conquerors.nicolaskrizan
very different, very grippinghttp://1001movies.posterous.com/910