This sophisticated picture about a desperate situation expresses its optimism through its style and its respect for the people who appear in it.
Comment
02/26/07
Bamako (2006)
84 %
Reviews Counted: 51 Fresh: 43 Rotten:8 Average Rating: 7.1/10
Consensus:
A courtroom drama and a portrait of everyday Mali life, Bamako approaches both subjects with equal skill and success.
Rated: PG
Runtime: 1 hr 58 mins
Theatrical Release: 23-02-2007
Synopsis: The life of a troubled couple from a town in Mali is the focus of BAMAKO. The twist in the tale is that they have to cope with their problems while a hugely important trial is set up in the courtyard next door to their house. [More]
Genre: Foreign Films
Starring: Danny Glover, Aissa Maiga, Tiecoura Traore, Maimouna Helene Diarra, Habib Dembele
Director: Abderrahmnane Sissako
Reviews
That the G8's policies have been disastrous for Africa won't come as news to anyone who goes to see African art-house films.
02/26/07
while the film may be impaired as an oral treatise, Sissako’s use of the trial is still vindicated. It provides rich symbolism in what is, on the whole, a stimulating work.
02/26/07
A thought-provoking film, told in a traditional African form and unique in the often fraught annals of African film-making.
02/23/07
You can’t help thinking that the only people who’d sit through this movie are those already aware of the issues involved.
02/23/07
In the week of The Good Shepherd this stinging indictment of Western involvement in the Third World is timely - or would be, if anyone bothered to see it.
02/23/07
There are countless moments that are subtly transfixing. Even seemingly casual shots - of vendors peddling knock-off Gucci glasses, policemen flirting with local women, a man attached to a drip lying alone in a room - linger in the imagination.
02/23/07
Top Critic Top Critic
Born of indignation, Bamako bears devastating witness to the iniquities of free trade and globalisation from a Malian perspective.
02/23/07
Top Critic
Yes, this is strong stuff, but spoken in an articulate, measured, passionate West African voice, it's impossible to ignore.
02/22/07
Lensed in warm tones, with impassioned contributions from the non-professional witnesses.
02/22/07
Abderrahmane Sissako makes no pretence at neutrality with this indictment of globalised capitalism.
02/20/07
Top Critic
Ironically, in an attempt to give Africans a voice, Sissako drowns them out.
02/20/07
Top Critic Top Critic
Sissako's bolt of lightning is how he once again merges spaces: he sets the trial out-of-doors... editing the village's daily events as if they are all a part of the trial's fabric.
06/02/08
A clumsy, talk-heavy and crushingly heavy-handed hybrid. While it may have the best of intentions, Bamako is sometimes hard to watch.
08/16/07
Unlike other recent films about the plight of Africa, Bamako channels its outrage more directly, yet with greater subtlety, by recruiting real-life witnesses to Africa's economic crises.
08/10/07
Free of the indignant self-righteousness of Michael Moore's lowbrow sloganeering, Abderrahmane Sissako's poetic drama offers a clear-sighted examination of Third World economic collapse.
08/09/07
Bamako is a film that grows on you. Its power is subtle and you don't really feel the impact until it's all over. And when it has, its left with you something unshakeably real.
07/22/07
Related Forums
(2007 USA release)-Abderrahmane Sissako's BAMAKO is Now Playing in NYC (HELD OVER)!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 3/7/07
by: REEL_REVIEWER 3/7/07
(2007 USA release)-Abderrahmane Sissako's BAMAKO is Now Playing in NYC (HELD OVER)!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 3/7/07
by: REEL_REVIEWER 3/7/07
(2007 USA release)-Abderrahmane Sissako's BAMAKO is Now Playing in NYC (HELD OVER)!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 3/7/07
by: REEL_REVIEWER 3/7/07
(2007 USA release)-Abderrahmane Sissako's BAMAKO is Now Playing in NYC (HELD OVER)!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 3/7/07
by: REEL_REVIEWER 3/7/07
(NYFF)-Abderrahmane Sissako's BAMAKOTO to screen @ the 44th New York Film Festival!!!
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