Mandabi

Movie Information

In Brief: Ousmane Sembene’s Mandabi (The Money Order) (1968) is the sort of movie that is much prized by folks suffering from cultural inferiority complexes and by those who dote on the esoteric for its own sake. It’s a movie from Senegal — and is apparently notable for being shot in Wolof (the common language) rather than French. It tells the story of what happens when Ibrahim Dieng (Makhouredia Gueye), a rather lazy 60-something-year-old man with exalted notions of his own importance, receives a money order for F25,000 from a relative in Paris. This supposed windfall turns into a curse when cashing it becomes a bureaucratic nightmare — made just that much worse by all the people out to get a piece of that money. The pacing is slow. The characters are not likable. And once the basic idea gets underway, the film becomes predictable. The major point of interest lies in the depiction of a country in the throes of adapting to its postcolonial state. Classic World Cinema by Courtyard Gallery will present Mandabi Friday, Dec. 5, at 8 p.m. at Phil Mechanic Studios, 109 Roberts St., River Arts District (upstairs in the Railroad Library).  Info: 273-3332, www.ashevillecourtyard.com
Score:

Genre: Drama
Director: Ousmane Sembene
Starring: Makhouredia Gueye, Ynousse N'Diaye, Isseu Niang, Serigne N'Diayes, Serigne Sow
Rated: NR

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Mandabi is clearly a movie for specialized tastes and is probably of more interest as an example of an emerging African film industry than as a film in its own right. The story of a man whose life is turned upside down by the arrival of a money order from his nephew in Paris is old hat — and was even in 1968. There are moments of interest — like the truth of the ramshackle life of this supposedly rich nephew, and the idea of the recently indepenent Senegal mired in its approximation of a bureaucracy learned from the French. But the film is choppy and inelegant. Director Ousmane Sembene shoots it all in a flat style that depersonalizes the characters and keeps them at a distance. Though it may be the transfer I watched, the film looks like it was blown up from 16mm. The images are often indistinct. The editing is ragged. And the whole film is crude — even amateurish. As an example of the formation of African cinema, I don’t doubt its importance, but I’m not sure it has a lot to offer otherwise.

Classic World Cinema by Courtyard Gallery will present Mandabi Friday, Dec. 5, at 8 p.m. at Phil Mechanic Studios, 109 Roberts St., River Arts District (upstairs in the Railroad Library).  Info: 273-3332, www.ashevillecourtyard.com

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About Ken Hanke
Head film critic for Mountain Xpress from December 2000 until his death in June 2016. Author of books "Ken Russell's Films," "Charlie Chan at the Movies," "A Critical Guide to Horror Film Series," "Tim Burton: An Unauthorized Biography of the Filmmaker."

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