It's some time .... well, it looks like it's early 19th century, but there are lots of outliers in garb. There are new folks around, and the slave-traders, Christians and a short Muslim imam are competing for dominance. The king has turned Muslim and orders everyone to convert, but the Ceddo, traditionalist animists not only resist, but kidnap the royal princess. There's a council in which claimants argue over who gets to rescue her, but the guy guarding her has no problem with them.
It was banned by Senegal because it wasn't respectful of Islam. To my eye, it didn't like anyone.
It's a little slow, although whether because director Sembene had a lot of things to say and felt a need to pound them into the audience, or because he wished his audience to be annoyed with all his characters, I cannot say. Sembene directs this one with a strong composition. In my review of his earlier SEMITAI, I noted that his compositions were loose, more groupings by color than framing. With this movie, he moves in the opposite direction, rarely using the entire frame, but clearly marking off the portion he wanted to use.
It was banned by Senegal because it wasn't respectful of Islam. To my eye, it didn't like anyone.
It's a little slow, although whether because director Sembene had a lot of things to say and felt a need to pound them into the audience, or because he wished his audience to be annoyed with all his characters, I cannot say. Sembene directs this one with a strong composition. In my review of his earlier SEMITAI, I noted that his compositions were loose, more groupings by color than framing. With this movie, he moves in the opposite direction, rarely using the entire frame, but clearly marking off the portion he wanted to use.