Timbuktu
The message
is clear: jihadism isn’t necessarily a good thing. But instead of Rambo-esque flag-waving and
chest-beating, Abderrahmane Sissako's Timbuktu
takes a contemplative, humanistic look at the imposition of religious
idealism
in West Africa. Much of the film’s power lies in the incongruities it
weaves
into its haunting tapestry, the awe-inspiring desert landscape (filmed
in
Mauritania) serving as a stark contrast to the obnoxious bigotry of the
insurgents.
There’s also the clash of cultures intrinsic in Maghrebi Africa, where ancient local tradition
sits uneasily with Sharia
law.
As the black Africans go about
their daily
business, the occupying Muslim forces dictate new regulations via
megaphone:
smoking, football and music are now prohibited and the women must cover
up
their heads and their hands. But how does a woman, brought up to
perform such
intricate tasks as the creation of jewelry and the preparation of fish,
do so
while wearing gloves? Yet the penalties for disregarding the Sharia
directive
are harsh: lapidation (stoning), flogging and amputation.
Sissako
reveals all this with an understated docu-realism, while still
capturing the inherent
visual poetry of this forgotten outpost. He also presents the jihadists
as
human beings. While they follow the rules that they have adopted, they
exhibit
no natural blood-lust and as they discuss the accomplishments of Lionel
Messi
and Didier Drogba, they do so without irony. To hide his hypocrisy, one
extremist
sits behind a sand dune to indulge his cigarette habit. When dealing
with
jihadism in the cinema, it’s hard not to be schematic, but Sissako
packs a far
greater punch by eschewing sensationalism. He draws his greatest power
from the
faces of the children who know not why…
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: Ibrahim
Ahmed dit Pino, Toulou Kiki, Layla Walet Mohamed, Abel Jafri, Hichem
Yacoubi.
Dir Abderrahmane Sissako, Pro Sylvie Pialat, Screenplay Sissako and Kessen Tall, Ph Sofian El Fani, Pro Des Sebastian Birchler, Ed Nadia Ben Rachid, Music Amine Bouhafa, Costumes Ami Sow.
Arte France
Cinéma/Canal+/Ciné+/CNC/TV5
Monde-Artificial Eye.
95 mins. France/Mauritania. 2014. Rel: 22 May 2015. Cert. 12A.