Touki Bouki: Difference between revisions
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==Production== |
==Production== |
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{{Expand section|date=February 2011}} |
{{Expand section|date=February 2011}} |
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Based on his own story and script, Djibril Diop Mambéty made ''Touki Bouki'' with a budget of $30,000 – obtained in part from the Senegalese government. Though influenced by [[French New Wave]], ''Touki Bouki'' displays a style all its own. Its camerawork and soundtrack have a frenetic rhythm uncharacteristic of most African films – known for their often deliberately slow-paced, linearly evolving narratives. Through jump cuts, colliding montage, dissonant sonic accompaniment, and the [[Contrast (linguistics)|juxtaposition]] of premodern, pastoral and modern sounds and visual elements, Touki Bouki conveys and grapples with the hybridization of [[Senegal]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Mambu|first=Djia|title=Touki Bouki: The greatest African film ever?|url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20181105-touki-bouki-the-greatest-african-film-ever|access-date=2021-01-29|website=www.bbc.com|language=en}}</ref> |
Based on his own story and script, Djibril Diop Mambéty made ''Touki Bouki'' with a budget of $30,000 – obtained in part from the Senegalese government. Though influenced by [[French New Wave]], ''Touki Bouki'' displays a style all its own. Its camerawork and soundtrack have a frenetic rhythm uncharacteristic of most African films – known for their often deliberately slow-paced, linearly evolving narratives. However, it has been asserted that the jump cuts and radical spatial shifts of the film are inspired by African oral traditions.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Russell, Sharon A., 1941-|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/55638413|title=Guide to African cinema|date=1998|publisher=Greenwood Press|isbn=978-1-4294-7633-1|location=Westport, Conn.|oclc=55638413}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Snell|first=Heather|date=2014-05-04|title=Toward ‘a giving and a receiving’: teaching Djibril Diop Mambéty's Touki Bouki|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/13696815.2013.849194|journal=Journal of African Cultural Studies|volume=26|issue=2|pages=127–139|doi=10.1080/13696815.2013.849194|issn=1369-6815}}</ref> The word "Bouki" in the title refers to a popular folk character, known for causing mischief and cheating their way to what they want.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Wynchank|first=Anny|date=1998-01|title=Touki-Bouki: The New Wave on the cinematic shores of Africa|url=https://doi-org.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/10.1080/10137548.1998.9687665|journal=South African Theatre Journal|language=en-ca|volume=12|issue=1-2|pages=53–72|doi=10.1080/10137548.1998.9687665|issn=1013-7548}}</ref> Through jump cuts, colliding montage, dissonant sonic accompaniment, and the [[Contrast (linguistics)|juxtaposition]] of premodern, pastoral and modern sounds and visual elements, Touki Bouki conveys and grapples with the hybridization of [[Senegal]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Mambu|first=Djia|title=Touki Bouki: The greatest African film ever?|url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20181105-touki-bouki-the-greatest-african-film-ever|access-date=2021-01-29|website=www.bbc.com|language=en}}</ref> |
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Under colonisation, the filmmakers usually could produce their films and images which were market-friendly and welcomed by the colonisers, whereas actual situations in Africa could not be depicted for audiences. However, Senegal gained its independence in the 1960s, paving the way for filmmakers to produce films and create the Third Cinema, in which they no longer needed to emulate Hollywood films. As an African, director Mambéty tried to show his homeland to his audience by using African actors and actresses as main characters, while revealing the struggle between seeking a good future in Paris or staying in their familiar homeland of Senegal. The story used a new editing method with quite a few items containing symbolic meaning, stimulating the understanding and thinking of plotlines for the audience. |
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West African cinema contemporaneous with ''Touki Bouki'' were primarily financed and distributed by the French Ministry of Cooperation's Bureau du Cinema, which ensured that scripts had to conform to cinematographic standards acceptable to the French Government. ''Touki Bouki,'' in contrast, was made without any French financial assistance, allowing Mambéty relatively significant autonomy in production of the film. Mambéty's ready adoption of French New Wave techniques was to a degree motivated by meagre financial resources, circumstances similar to those of the film-makers of the early French New Wave.<ref name=":1" /> Narrative and cinematographic techniques associated with the [[Western (genre)|Western]] genre (known for dehumanizing depictions of Native Americans and minorities) were also subversively utilized by Mambéty in the production of the film.<ref name=":0" /> |
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During the production of ''Touki Bouki'', Mambéty was arrested for participating in anti-racist protests in [[Rome]], and bailed out by lawyers from the [[Italian Communist Party]] after appeals from friends such as [[Bernardo Bertolucci]] and [[Sophia Loren]]. The experience of receiving a request from the Italian Communist Party to compensate them for the legal fees spent in his defence served as an inspiration for a character in his later film, ''[[Hyenas (1992 film)|Hyènes.]]''<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bakupa-Kanyinda|first=Balufu|date=1998|title=Djibril Diop Mambety. Tribut cinématographique à Colobane|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.3917/presa.158.0173|journal=Présence Africaine|volume=158|issue=2|pages=173|doi=10.3917/presa.158.0173|issn=0032-7638}}</ref> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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==Awards== |
==Awards== |
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* International Critics Award at [[1973 Cannes Film Festival]] |
* International Critics Award at [[1973 Cannes Film Festival]] |
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* Special Jury Award at 1973 [[8th Moscow International Film Festival|Moscow Film Festival]]<ref name="Moscow1973" /> |
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* ''Touki Bouki'' ranked #52 in ''[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]'' magazine's "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010.<ref name="tb1973-r4">{{cite web |
* ''Touki Bouki'' ranked #52 in ''[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]'' magazine's "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010.<ref name="tb1973-r4">{{cite web |
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| title = The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema – 52. Touki Bouki |
| title = The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema – 52. Touki Bouki |
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Revision as of 08:54, 30 January 2021
| Touki Bouki | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Djibril Diop Mambéty |
| Written by | Djibril Diop Mambéty |
| Starring | Magaye Niang Mareme Niang |
| Cinematography | Pap Samba Sow |
| Edited by | Siro Asteni Emma Mennenti[1] |
| Music by | Josephine Baker Mado Robin Aminata Fall |
Production companies | Cinegrit Studio Kankourama |
| Distributed by | World Cinema Foundation |
Release date |
|
Running time | 95 minutes |
| Country | Senegal |
| Language | Wolof |
| Budget | $30,000 |
Touki Bouki (Template:IPA-wo, Wolof for The Journey of the Hyena) is a 1973 Senegalese drama film, directed by Djibril Diop Mambéty.[2] It was shown at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival[2][3] and the 8th Moscow International Film Festival.[4]
The film was restored in 2008 at Cineteca di Bologna / L’Immagine Ritrovata Laboratory by the World Cinema Foundation.[5] It was selected as the 93rd greatest film of all time by the Sight and Sound Critic's Poll[6]
Plot
Mory, a charismatic cowherd who drives a motorcycle mounted with a bull-horned skull, and Anta, a female student, meet in Dakar. Alienated and tired of life in Senegal, they dream of going to Paris and come up with different schemes to raise money for the trip. Mory eventually succeeds in stealing the money, and a large amount of clothing, from the household of a wealthy homosexual while the latter is taking a shower. Anta and Mory can finally buy tickets for the ship to France. But when Anta boards the ship in the Port of Dakar, Mory, poised on the gangplank behind her, is suddenly seized by an inability to leave his roots, and he runs away madly to find his bull-horned motorcycle, only to see that it has been ruined in a crash that nearly killed the rider who had taken it. The ship sails away with Anta but not Mory, who sits next to his hat on the ground, staring disconsolately at his wrecked motorcycle.
Cast
- Aminata Fall as "Aunt Oumy"
- Ousseynou Diop as "Charlie"
- Magaye Niang as "Mory"
- Mareme Niang as "Anta"
Production
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2011) |
Based on his own story and script, Djibril Diop Mambéty made Touki Bouki with a budget of $30,000 – obtained in part from the Senegalese government. Though influenced by French New Wave, Touki Bouki displays a style all its own. Its camerawork and soundtrack have a frenetic rhythm uncharacteristic of most African films – known for their often deliberately slow-paced, linearly evolving narratives. However, it has been asserted that the jump cuts and radical spatial shifts of the film are inspired by African oral traditions.[7][8] The word "Bouki" in the title refers to a popular folk character, known for causing mischief and cheating their way to what they want.[9] Through jump cuts, colliding montage, dissonant sonic accompaniment, and the juxtaposition of premodern, pastoral and modern sounds and visual elements, Touki Bouki conveys and grapples with the hybridization of Senegal.[10]
West African cinema contemporaneous with Touki Bouki were primarily financed and distributed by the French Ministry of Cooperation's Bureau du Cinema, which ensured that scripts had to conform to cinematographic standards acceptable to the French Government. Touki Bouki, in contrast, was made without any French financial assistance, allowing Mambéty relatively significant autonomy in production of the film. Mambéty's ready adoption of French New Wave techniques was to a degree motivated by meagre financial resources, circumstances similar to those of the film-makers of the early French New Wave.[9] Narrative and cinematographic techniques associated with the Western genre (known for dehumanizing depictions of Native Americans and minorities) were also subversively utilized by Mambéty in the production of the film.[8]
During the production of Touki Bouki, Mambéty was arrested for participating in anti-racist protests in Rome, and bailed out by lawyers from the Italian Communist Party after appeals from friends such as Bernardo Bertolucci and Sophia Loren. The experience of receiving a request from the Italian Communist Party to compensate them for the legal fees spent in his defence served as an inspiration for a character in his later film, Hyènes.[11]
See also
Awards
- International Critics Award at 1973 Cannes Film Festival
- Special Jury Award at 1973 Moscow Film Festival[4]
- Touki Bouki ranked #52 in Empire magazine's "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010.[12]
References
- ^ "Movie Review - Touki-Bouki - Review/Film; A Dream Of Escape To Paris". NYTimes.com. 1991-02-15. Retrieved 2011-01-26.
- ^ a b "Biography of Djibril DIOP MAMBéTY". African Success. 2007-06-25. Retrieved 2011-01-26.
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: Touki Bouki". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2011-01-25.
- ^ a b "8th Moscow International Film Festival (1973)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 2013-01-16. Retrieved 2013-01-04.
- ^ "World Cinema Foundation » TOUKI BOUKI". World Cinema Foundation. Retrieved 2011-01-25.
- ^ "The 100 Greatest Films of All Time | Sight & Sound". British Film Institute. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
- ^ Russell, Sharon A., 1941- (1998). Guide to African cinema. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-1-4294-7633-1. OCLC 55638413.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b Snell, Heather (2014-05-04). "Toward 'a giving and a receiving': teaching Djibril Diop Mambéty's Touki Bouki". Journal of African Cultural Studies. 26 (2): 127–139. doi:10.1080/13696815.2013.849194. ISSN 1369-6815.
- ^ a b Wynchank, Anny (1998-01). "Touki-Bouki: The New Wave on the cinematic shores of Africa". South African Theatre Journal. 12 (1–2): 53–72. doi:10.1080/10137548.1998.9687665. ISSN 1013-7548.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Mambu, Djia. "Touki Bouki: The greatest African film ever?". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
- ^ Bakupa-Kanyinda, Balufu (1998). "Djibril Diop Mambety. Tribut cinématographique à Colobane". Présence Africaine. 158 (2): 173. doi:10.3917/presa.158.0173. ISSN 0032-7638.
- ^ "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema – 52. Touki Bouki". Empire.
External links
- "The Hyena's Last Laugh - A conversation with Djibril Diop Mambety". California Newsreel. Retrieved 2011-01-25.
- "new wave/old wave". African Film Festival. Retrieved 2011-01-26.
- Touki Bouki at AllMovie
- Touki Bouki at IMDb
- Touki Bouki at Rotten Tomatoes
- Touki Bouki at the TCM Movie Database
- African Film Festival of Cordoba-FCAT (license CC BY-SA-3.0)
- Touki bouki: Mambéty and Modernity an essay by Richard Porton at the Criterion Collection