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Highly Overrated But Still Good

Best movie ever!

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The film has a pretty slow tempo but the story it tells has some great meaning behind it. Ramatou represents the Western capitalist ideology and the Senegalese village a cultural way of living. When the villagers slowly rid themselves of their cultural values, they can be seen as 'selling out' to the western values, that which Ramatou represents with her wealth.Quite a lot of scenes seem pretty random to me in this film, and I did not understand what they represented. Also, the montage with the hyenas could probably have been cut down. One or two juxtapositions would be enough to make that connection strong, but too many clips of the hyenas in the wilderness just increased the distance of the film for me. Though the last scene did make me curiouser and curiouser, it was well done.The acting felt pretty dry too. There didn't seem to be that much emotion behind many of the characters, and the speech was a little awkward. I know this might be a cultural way of speech but it felt too spaced out. For example Dramaan would wait 5-10 seconds before replying or saying something while the camera is on him.Overall it is a pretty interesting film with many intriguing aspects but just dry.Read more movie reviews at: championangels.wordpress.com

We were blessed with the presence of a Wolof language and culture guide (Rama). This was great. ;) Whenever there was confusion (which there was) we would turn to our expert and ask what on earth the people were doing. It would be explained and we would continue with the film, being enlightened. This added to the appreciation of the film. Some highlights: The dancing was unique and quite extraordinary - our Rama witnessed such dancing when she was in Senegal.The scene of Dramen Drameh driving the Peuguot convertible around the hunter round 'n round was quite artistic and profoundly touching. An interesting way to spend the last day of your life. The hats - particularly the soldier hats. The yellow shoes were a nice touch too. It all added to the humor of the film making it light despite the darker undertones of this exploration of the human psyche. The teacher was wise. He brought a balance and a perspective to the film, he was the prophetic voice of truth crying out in the desert. He and the doctor alone seemed to understand the deeper moral failings at work - the lure of material wealth. Dramen's soul came to represent the soul of the village, and when it died so did the soul of the village.

"Hyenas" is based on Friedrich Durrenmatt's play "Der Besuch der alten Dame". In it, an old woman returns to her home town, which has fallen into disrepair. She offers them a large sum if they will take revenge on the man who caused her to lose her virginity.Above all, it was interesting to see a Senegalese spin on the story. Obviously, we don't often hear much about Senegal. Of course, another aspect is the story's metaphors. There are two men who have been castrated and blinded. This is a metaphor for inter-war Germany: the reparations demanded by the Allies destroyed Germany economically, and then the German people didn't realize what the Nazi government was doing. Moreover, when the main character sees what everyone is trying to do to him, he goes to the authorities but can't get any help from them; this is like the Jews going to the authorities but to no avail. These are the sorts of stories to which we should all pay attention.

A stunning adaptation of Friedrich Durrenmatt's coldly brilliant play, The Visit, HYENES (hyenas) actually improves on the story by transposing the action to a Senegalese village. A fabulously wealthy old woman, who was born in the village but run out in disgrace as pregnant youth, returns and promises the villagers a fortune on one condition: that they kill the man who ruined her, an aged man who is the town's popular, good-natured grocer.By moving the story from Durrenmatt's European setting to a dirt-poor African village, all the tensions are heightened, and the director Mambety sets the huge issues in high relief against the desert backdrop: justice, betrayal, revenge, guilt, greed (or need?), loyalty, and charity are played out in a searing (and searingly beautiful) desert, filmed with the grace of Bergman and written with the wryness of Bunuel. There are no good guys. It's up to you if there are bad guys. Everyone is a predator.