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Special Features
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Editorial Reviews
Review
A film that needs to be seen, argued over and seen again. A disarmingly beautiful...fierce and unforgettable piece of political art... that is also a haunting visual poem. --A.O. Scott, The New York Times
One of the most original cinematic achievements of the decade... It will leave your brain buzzing. --Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com
A passionate challenging drama. Grade: A --Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
One of the most original cinematic achievements of the decade... It will leave your brain buzzing. --Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com
A passionate challenging drama. Grade: A --Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
Product Description
An extraordinary trial is taking place in a residential courtyard in Bamako, the capital city of Mali. African citizens have taken proceedings against such international financial institutions as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), whom civil society blames for perpetuating Africa's debt crisis, at the heart of so many of the continent's woes. As numerous trial witnesses (schoolteachers, farmers, writers, etc.) air bracing indictments against the global economic machinery that haunts them, life in the courtyard presses forward. Melé, a lounge singer, and her unemployed husband Chaka are on the verge of breaking up; a security guard's gun goes missing; a young man lies ill; a wedding procession passes through; and women keep everything rolling - dyeing fabric, minding children, spinning cotton, and speaking their minds.
Written and directed by the celebrated filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako (Waiting for Happiness) and co-executive produced by Danny Glover (who also provides a cameo in the film), this critically acclaimed political drama - filled with a lush mix of warm colors and impassioned music - offers a unique opportunity for audiences to become familiar with contemporary Africa. Sissako, who grew up in the courtyard that the film is set in, hired professional lawyers and judges along with "witnesses" to express their true feelings. Bamako voices Africa's grievances in an original and profoundly moving way.
Director Ken Russell declared Bamako to be a "revolutionary lesson in contemporary film-making." The Observer's Philip French listed Bamako among his top 50 films of the past 5 decades. Andrew O'Hehir of Salon.com, who named the film as his number one film of 2007, deemed the film a "fearless high-wire act, grim and witty, confrontational and self-mocking." A.O. Scott of The New York Times stated that he's "never seen a film quite like 'Bamako'... a work of cool intelligence and profound anger... necessary viewing."
Special Features:
- Interviews with: director Abderrahmane Sissako, executive producer / actor Danny Glover, Yao Graham (Third World Network Africa) and Gita Sen (Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era)
- Harry Belafonte: clip from NY Film Festival panel
- Theatrical trailer
- Dolby Digital 5.1
- Enhanced for 16x9 TVs
- Optional English subtitles
- Scene Selections
- Essays by Aminata Traoré and Mahmood Mamdani
Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
In a small courtyard of a house shared by several families (in Bamako, capital of Mali) a trial court has been set up where African spokesmen are taking proceedings against the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. This fictional setup allows the filmmaker to present a myriad of voices, addressing the human impact of the policies of these international organizations. Meanwhile, life goes on in the courtyard. Individuals who live there carry on with their efforts to make a living, most notably a talented woman who has to leave the home to sing in a nightclub in another city so that she can support her family and a husband who has lost his job and his dignity.
The film, in effect, aims to put global capitalism itself on trial and we, the audience, get to stand in as the jury. On the one hand, these organizations allow for the development of the nations they invest in: the creation of hospitals, roads, utilities, and the like. On the other hand, these development come with a steep price tag: conditions for such development include privatization of utilities, the selling off of local resources to the highest bidder, and the establishment of steep loans that have put several African countries in deep debt from which there is little possibility of emergence -- which means that their revenues must be put towards loans rather than education and even upkeep of the developments for which they paid so much. A number of perspectives and examples are given of both costs and benefits of various development projects that have taken place in Africa over the last several decades and the consensus among those attending (with some strongly opposing views presented) seems to be that the costs outweigh the benefits, and that globalization is effectively colonization under a new guise, and that it continues the process of divesting Africans of their culture and heritage and resources.
What is especially nice about the film is that the ideas are not hammered into the audiences heads; questions are raised, points are made, counterarguments are considered. Perhaps the most heavy-handed moment in the film comes at the midpoint, after the court has adjourned on the first day of proceedings. Families from the compound sit around an old television and watch a movie, a Western (starring Danny Glover, who put up some of the financing for this film), but not exactly like standard Western fare. A group of "bad guys" come into town to do bad things, a few "good guys" try to stop them, but there is a huge amount of collateral damage. The message, as it seems, is that when men with guns and armies do battle, for whatever reason -- and whatever their ideological basis such battles tend to be about privileged persons fighting over power and resources -- when men with guns and armies do battle it is the people who suffer and pay the cost of their ideological and political strivings. Whatever takes place in the bigger conversations about globalization, whatever wars are fought over African resources, ordinary people, such as those in the compound in Bamako who take no part in the trial, just want to live, to be able to feed their families, to face life with dignity, to have a voice. The most profound moment of the film comes when a man, who had been waiting patiently to address the court, finally stands before them and can't say a word. With this very intriguing and powerful film, Sissako gives voice to the concerns of those who have no voice on an international policy-making platform. This is a very important film, well worth watching.
The film, in effect, aims to put global capitalism itself on trial and we, the audience, get to stand in as the jury. On the one hand, these organizations allow for the development of the nations they invest in: the creation of hospitals, roads, utilities, and the like. On the other hand, these development come with a steep price tag: conditions for such development include privatization of utilities, the selling off of local resources to the highest bidder, and the establishment of steep loans that have put several African countries in deep debt from which there is little possibility of emergence -- which means that their revenues must be put towards loans rather than education and even upkeep of the developments for which they paid so much. A number of perspectives and examples are given of both costs and benefits of various development projects that have taken place in Africa over the last several decades and the consensus among those attending (with some strongly opposing views presented) seems to be that the costs outweigh the benefits, and that globalization is effectively colonization under a new guise, and that it continues the process of divesting Africans of their culture and heritage and resources.
What is especially nice about the film is that the ideas are not hammered into the audiences heads; questions are raised, points are made, counterarguments are considered. Perhaps the most heavy-handed moment in the film comes at the midpoint, after the court has adjourned on the first day of proceedings. Families from the compound sit around an old television and watch a movie, a Western (starring Danny Glover, who put up some of the financing for this film), but not exactly like standard Western fare. A group of "bad guys" come into town to do bad things, a few "good guys" try to stop them, but there is a huge amount of collateral damage. The message, as it seems, is that when men with guns and armies do battle, for whatever reason -- and whatever their ideological basis such battles tend to be about privileged persons fighting over power and resources -- when men with guns and armies do battle it is the people who suffer and pay the cost of their ideological and political strivings. Whatever takes place in the bigger conversations about globalization, whatever wars are fought over African resources, ordinary people, such as those in the compound in Bamako who take no part in the trial, just want to live, to be able to feed their families, to face life with dignity, to have a voice. The most profound moment of the film comes when a man, who had been waiting patiently to address the court, finally stands before them and can't say a word. With this very intriguing and powerful film, Sissako gives voice to the concerns of those who have no voice on an international policy-making platform. This is a very important film, well worth watching.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By mz
Format:DVD
I agree with other reviewers who had a positive response to the political aspect of this amazing film, but also, as a visual artist, I have to add that "Bamako" is VISUALLY the most beautifully framed film I have ever seen- in more than 50 years.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By Georgia
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I waited for two years to order and then see this dvd. The wait was well worth it because it is such a primer to the subject that you hear about so much vis a vie Africa. Watching this mock trial on Globalization and its local impact is a lesson that we need to learn. I recommend this dvd to schools and teachers everywhere who are trying to get kids to understand the impact on the world of the World Bank, the IMF and all the other problems that we as Westerners have imposed on the Third World. This is a fascinating look at this problem and it is very well done. I Highly recommend this film.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful, moving, artistic and complex
Bamako (with English subtitles) makes you think of the grand scheme of life at the same time as you're taken up with its daily details. Read more
Published 8 months ago by M. R. Thissen
4.0 out of 5 stars
Thought Provoking
The film narrates something important in a very original way. It is not fast but makes one reflect.
Published on September 16, 2009 by Assinie
5.0 out of 5 stars
Movie worth watching
The Mauritian writer-director Abderrahmane Sissako brings us a powerful yet difficult to grasp with and appreciate drama following the fictional mock trial in which the World Bank... Read more
Published on May 24, 2009 by Codrin Stefan Arsene
2.0 out of 5 stars
Didacticism run amok
Abderrahmane Sissako may have known what he was doing when he made "Bamako," but the rest of us can just sit back in mystification and confusion trying our best to figure out what... Read more
Published on February 22, 2009 by Roland E. Zwick
