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Salon picks Bamako as the best indie movie of 2007 By Andrew O'Hehir, January 10th, 2008 1. "Bamako" -- African director Abderrahmane Sissako returned to the courtyard of the house where he grew up in Bamako, Mali, to film this extraordinary, unclassifiable docudrama that addresses the driest and least dramatic material possible -- the debt crisis that has devastated Africa's economies in the post-colonial period. Sounds great, right? You're so there! Look, just give it a try; although "Bamako" played only in a few big-city theaters and college campuses, it sparked intense discussion everywhere it went, and it's a weird, wonderful, constantly surprising film. It focuses on a show trial, held in that Bamako courtyard -- and occasionally interrupted by goats, chickens, washerwomen and wedding parties -- pitting the international financial institutions against African society (with both sides represented by pompous, white-wigged Caucasian attorneys). It also includes a mock western called "Death in Timbuktu" starring Danny Glover, philosophical conversations about death, and a haunting subplot about a crumbling marriage and a beautiful, self-destructive nightclub singer. Sure, on one level "Bamako" is an intellectual film that shows the influence of Jean-Luc Godard and Ousmane Sembène, but if you're willing to ride with it, it's also a wry, witty and tragic experience with a dynamite emotional payoff. |