Xala
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Features
• Closed-captioned
• Color
• DVD-Video
• NTSC
In Theaters : 1975
DVD Release : 31 May, 2005 |
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Xala description
Wealthy businessman and community leader El Hadji (Thierno Leye) has been known to take a bribe on occasion. He has two wives and has just taken a (much younger) third, when he succumbs to a xala, or curse, and is unable to consummate the marriage. In his search for a cure, Hadji first loses his standing, then his fortune. Even his wives start to abandon him. He has become impotent in every sense of the word. Based on his novel of the same name, Ousmane Sembene’s fourth film is unsparing in its critique of Senegalese men, like Hadji, who claim to be enemies of colonialism and defenders of "Africanity," yet insist on speaking French, consume only imported goods, and view the less fortunate as "human rubbish." As with Luis Buñuel before him, Sembene (Moolaadé) finds the "charm of the bourgeoisie" to be very "discreet" indeed in this devastating dark comedy. --Kathleen C. Fennessy |
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The Curse
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| In the mid 1960's Ousmane Sembene moved from the literary world to the cinematic world. Probably in a hope to disseminate the social purpose of his work to a wider and more accessible audience (the fickle world of film distribution however has generally not been fair to African cinema). "Xala" builds on many of the concerns explored in his first short film "Borom Sarret" and is also based upon his own novel. The authorship of this film is unquestionably Sembene's, and in his documentary style, use of camera and thematic continuity Sembene's status as an auteur is assured. The biting satirical tone of the film however is something of an innovation, with Sembene preferring to use comedy to highlight the absurdities and hypocrisies of neo-colonialism. As well as pointing out that European power continues to rule by proxy in Senegal, Sembene also explores the traditions of his own culture and suggests that a number of fundamental problems lie within these outmoded Senegalese traditions. A rejection of polygamy becomes the cause celebre of the film, and Sembene seems to suggest that with such practices still in existence what real hope does Senegal have in progressing into the modern world. This binary opposition between culture and tradition and modernity becomes the most important issue in the film. However the uncertain conclusion suggests that it is not possible to cherry pick those aspects to retain and those to reject. This is a complex piece of work aided by some impressive photography, however it must be stated that the pace is leaden and its lack of spectacle will probably not endear it to a multiplex Hollywood audience. |
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Xala dvd movie.