Camp
de Thiaroye (1987/New
Yorker Films DVD)
Picture:
C Sound: C Extras:
D Film: B
Camp de Thiaroye (1987), by Ousmane Sembene, is
considered a classic of African cinema.
It is now available on DVD, presented by New Yorker Video. The film tells the story of an African
infantry battalion returning home to Senegal, having fought to free Europe from
Fascism. Specifically, the Infantrymen
were among those who liberated the concentration camp Buchenwald. The returning soldiers are haunted by what
they experienced—they carry the Nazi ideology back to Senegal like an
infectious virus.
Once
home, they are put in a “transition” camp, Camp de Thiaroye, where they wait
for their wages to be paid, before they are allowed to go back to their
villages. They find themselves behind
barbed wire—the colonialists don’t trust them.
When their French commanders refuse to pay them their fair wages,
tensions flare up. How can a man return
from war a hero, only to be a slave in his own country?
This and
other questions are examined by writer-director Ousmane Sembene. Sembene (1923 - 2007) is considered a master
storyteller. A former World War Two
soldier from Senegal, Sembene illegally immigrated to Marseilles, where he
found works in the harbor docks. He
began writing a novel, “The Black Docker”,
published in 1956. It received
sufficient acclaim—and royalties—to solidify his career as a writer, and later
on, as a director. Sembene studied film
in Moscow, and was politically active throughout his life. He was never afraid to infuse his
storytelling with a heartfelt political yearning for a better tomorrow, for
African independence. Among his
best-known films are Black Girl
(1966), Xala (1975, both reviewed
elsewhere on this site), Ceddo
(1977) and Camp de Thiaroye.
Despite
his achievements, Sembene’s work—and much of African cinema—receives little
attention in the West. During a recent
press junket in New York, Nigerian actor Hakeem Kae-Kazim (Hotel Rwanda, Lost,
24) spoke about an inherent problem the African film
industry faces. A majority of films are
filtered through a white perspective:
From Sydney Pollack’s Out of
Africa (1985) to Kevin Macdonald’s “Last
King of Scotland” (2006), the dramatic arc is often borrowed from Joseph
Conrad’s seminal novel of colonialism, “Heart
of Darkness” (1899). A white man
comes to Africa, experiences it through the eyes of a foreigner and is
ultimately engulfed by its “darkness”.
“We see
this in politics as well,” Kae-Kazim explains. “The current leaders of Africa
were educated in Europe, and it shows in the disdain they show their
countrymen.” To break this disdain, a
homegrown film industry is vital.
Nigeria is the third largest producers of films in the world, next to
India and the United States. From Mogadishu
to Cape Town, the films of “Nollywood” are everywhere. “It’s a wonderful way of Africans telling
their own stories in their own way, and with their own way of storytelling,”
explains Kae-Kazim.
This is
especially evident in the films of Ousmane Sembene, a precursor to the modern
African film industry. Camp de Thiaroye is a flawed, but
interesting film. While the pacing is slow, and the performances somewhat
exaggerated, the underlying power cannot be denied. It is a film that does not shy away from
taboos, and the DVD release is a welcome addition to one’s library.
Regrettably, the production values and film transfer—presented in a 16:9 1.78 X
1 anamorphically enhanced aspect ratio—leave much to be desired. The Dolby Digital 2.0 sound is dull, and the
colors washed-out and muted. Also, there
are no extras to speak of, save for a twenty-minute interview with actor Danny
Glover, who provides some much-needed background and insight into Sembene’s
work.
At 152
minutes, Camp de Thiaroye feels a
bit long, but it is nonetheless an engaging film that challenges our perception
about race and violence.
- Emanuel Bergmann
