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chuckmo.com · @chuckmo.com@bridge.neodb.net

Rated Touki Bouki 8/10

Oooof, they should rename the World Cinema Project to the Slaughterhouse Cinema Project. These scenes are hard, and I try my best not to look away. Like those animal deaths, this movie feels very real. With no formal training, it was Mambéty's first film. This always gives a film an authentic, unfiltered energy. In this case, it's aided by the New Wave, guerilla style shot-on-location-in-very-public-places approach, capturing the reality of 70's Dakar. The Senegalese people filmed here also feel very genuine. There's a sweetness and sincerity behind the dances and songs and reactions. But then it also has humor and some funny characters, like the rich guy. The poorly looped "Paris, Paris" chorus played off and on throughout the second half really brings home the artificiality of the leads' notion of what Paris represents and what it will be; it feels increasingly synthetic each time that loop repeats off the beat, until it kind of loses its musicality. Just a track sample that sounded good at first, but gets emptier on repeat.

#bluray #movie

Published 2025-09-20 00:00 UTC · bridged from Atmosphere