2023-12-13 01:44:30
While love stories most often tell of encounters, from the start, Banel and Adama, not yet 20 years old, love each other and are already a couple. Against tradition, they aspire to live free and equal away from their Senegalese village. Banel even knows that she doesn’t want children. It must be said that she was already married, by force, to Adama’s older brother, who conveniently died. As for Adama, he made it known that he did not intend to resume the position of village chief that his father occupied. With the horizon thus cleared, they began to remove sand from two small abandoned houses so that they no longer had to live with Adama’s mother. And too bad if the village looks at them askance: their love is strong enough to be sufficient in itself.
Colors and questions
The time of tales of fishermen who knew how to speak to the sirens of the river and other beautiful nonsense is well over. Banel has to help her mother-in-law in the fields or with the laundry when she would prefer to make love with Adama. And above all, the lack of water begins to be felt, forcing Adama to take his herd of emaciated cows to graze ever further. What if this curse came from his refusal to take responsibility? Or perhaps Banel’s proudly individualistic character? Without haste, the filmmaker distills information and questions through an essentially poetic language. “Everything is linked” declares Banel’s brother, who has embraced and teaches Islam, which is gaining ground in the Sahel.
Encounter: CJ “Fiery” Obasi: “I want to have a more elevated view of black skin”
This is how their dream of love gradually fades away. Will it even be possible to stay on these ancestral lands? Rich in magnificent colors at the start, the film fades as drought, heat and death take hold. However, the filmmaker’s most disturbing idea is still to place us on the side of a strong heroine – even “Westernized” – but not necessarily so admirable. Is it really the world that is ganging up against them, or is it the romantic ideal itself that is opposing the march of the world? After the recent You will die at 20 d’Ajad Abu Alala (Sudan), This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection de Moohang Jeremiah Mosese (Lesotho) et Mother Moon by CJ “Fiery” Obasi (Nigeria), African cinema is definitely finding new voices and new paths. It would be time to discover them and encourage them further.
Banel & Adams of Ramata-Toulaye Sy (Senegal, France, Mali, 2023), with Khady Mane, Mamadou Diallo, Binta Root Sy, 1h2
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#Banel #Adama #love #Senegal