[Film Review] Timbuktu (2014)

Any high-profile film from the land of Africa is at a premium, TIMBUKTU, the fourth narrative feature from Mauritanian-born Malian film director Abderrahmane Sissako, is a Cannes main competition entry, César Awards top recipient (7 wins including Best Film and Best Director, it is a Mauritanian-French co-production), and Oscar-nominee (the first ever Best Foreign Language Film submission from Mauritania), in short, it is a big deal.

The story is presently set in the titular city of Mali and its environs, where its denizens are governed by extremist jihadis whose draconian execution of Sharia law clashes with their quotidian existence, barely speaking the same language (a mix-bag of Arabic, French and English versus the local’s Bambara, Tamasheq and Songhai), only their akin Islamic religions can seemly appease the Jihadists’ aggression, but Sissako also foreground the danger that any holy doctrine can be subjugated to high-handed appropriation to one party’s own agenda without rousing much fuss.

Herdsman Kidane (Ahmed) lives in the outskirt with his wife Satima (Kiki) and pre-teen daughter Toya (Layla Walet Mohamed), among their livestock, nine cows are ministered by shepherd boy Issan (Mehdi A.G. Mohamed). But one incident (thankfully, the cow isn’t harmed in the shooting, but where is the neighborly love in that shallow ford?) and its ensuing bust-up stems the relative idyll the family enjoys. Kidane is trialed under Sharia law for his manslaughter, if he cannot be blessed with a pardon from the victim’s family, his fate will be sealed.

If the drama here is death-dealing, TIMBUKTU is a tension-free practice, escorted by Amin Bouhafa’s euphoniously lyrical, folksy, sometimes lugubrious score, its narrative episodes is too haphazardly scattered to cohere to an arresting aggregate (there are intriguing episodes to be dwell on, like the summary punishment of adultery, or the indigenous spirit of Kettly Noel's Zabou, an oracle or a flamboyant soul goes doolally? We would never know). Violence (lashing and stoning) is presented with calm and solemnity, guns are ubiquitous, but their pestilent actions are shown minimally in a blink. In this forsaken land afflicted by iniquity, poverty and cruelty, Sissako is bent on finding humanity and dignity against oppression, even if it takes away the biting realism out of the land’s breathtaking, sandy exoticism.

A ball-less football match is poetic but a too blunt metaphor, an act of defiance of music-playing is in default of any context. Sissako is a proficient, morally upstanding filmmaker but somewhat for want of tact, encumbered by the inexpressiveness of the cast (save Ahmed, whose soulful eyes and heartfelt plea are the grace notes), TIMBUKTU is a mild-tempered apologue with simple-minded characters in its center, but that doesn’t mean their inner thoughts should be expressed repeatedly in concise, tired wording. If anything, TIMBUKTU suffers from a competent script to connect its strewn vignettes altogether and inject more verve into its sluggish momentum and poised denunciation to Islamic fundamentalism, it is an estimable enterprise, but not a chef-d’œuvre.

referential entries: Ousmane Sembene’s BLACK GIRL (1966, 7.3/10); Cary Joji Fukunaga’s BEASTS OF NO NATION (2015, 7.9/10).

Title: Timbuktu

Year: 2014

Country: Mauritania, France, Qatar

Language: French, Arabic, Bambara, English, Tamashek, Songhai

Genre: Drama, War

Director: Abderrahmane Sissako

Screenwriters: Abderrahmane Sissako, Kessen Tall

Music: Amin Bouhafa

Cinematography: Sofian El Fani

Editing: Nadia Ben Rachid

Cast:

Ibrahim Ahmed

Toulou Kiki

Layla Walet Mohamed

Mehdi A.G. Mohamed

Abel Jafri

Adel Mahmoud Cherif

Salem Dendou

Cheik A.G. Emakni

Kettly Noël

Omar Haidara

Fatoumata Diawara

Hichem Yacoubi

Damien Ndjie

Rating: 7.4/10