Adanggaman (2000)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Roger Gnoan M'Bala

Writers:

Jean-Marie Adiaffi (writer)
Bertin Akaffou (writer)

Release Date:

21 September 2001 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

In West Africa during the late 17th century, King Adanggaman leads a war against his neighboring tribes...

Plot Keywords:

Africa | Slave | Slave Trade | 17th Century

Awards:

5 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Rasmane Ouedraogo	...	Adanggaman
Albertine N'Guessan	...	Mo Akassi
Ziable Honoré Goore Bi	...	Ossei
Bintou Bakayoko	...	Ehua
Nicole Suzis Menyeng	...	Adjo
Mireille Andrée Boti	...	Mawa
Tie Dijian Patrick	...	Kanga
Lou Nadège Blagone	...	Safo Aboua
Anastasie Tode Bohi	...	The Castanet Girl
Didier Grandidier	...	Bangalajan
Mylène-Perside Boti Kouame	...	Naka
Étienne Goheti Bi Gore	...	Poro
Zie Soro	...	Sory
Sie Lou Chantal	...	Amazon
Sokpo Germaine	...	Amazon

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

France | Switzerland | Ivory Coast | Burkina Faso | Italy

Language:

French | Bambara

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Argentina:13 | USA:Unrated

Company:

Abyssa Film

An interesting film that could have been better

I find this film somewhat disappointing. I expected more from it. The enslavement of innocent people is such an emotive subject I thought there would be more dramatic appeal. All the ingredients were there waiting to be put together but the final presentation did not move me as much as it should have.

The action takes place somewhere in Africa in the 17th Century and Adanggaman a tribal chief has set himself up as the top authority on all things African including the right to enslave his neighbours. Netting them like wild animals after burning their huts and pursuing them through the undergrowth as they try to escape he has them shackled in the most cruel way and sold to the highest bidder at auctions. A man may be worth a cow and a sheep and if he is in good physical condition (as most seem to be) he may command an extra animal or two.

The so-called "Amazon" warriors which I thought was a misnomer were a tough lot of trained guards responsible it seems for transporting the prisoners from their tribal home (now burnt to the ground) to a temporary prison unsheltered and exposed to all the elements. The suffering must have been extreme, but that feeling was not conveyed well.

As a matter of fact so many of the scenes were shot in the blackness of night with perhaps just a tiny shaft of light exposing now and again a head or a half face or a pair of eyes. More than a few minutes of this becomes a strain on the eyes and the action of the film does not move forward as it should. May be the art director was let loose at this point and took over shooting, but he must learn that these so-called artistic intrusions must be meaningful if they are to serve the drama.

In a sense this film was an education for me. When I hear of slavery I tend to think of those awful days when blacks were exported to the Western world to serve their white masters and I tend to overlook the slavery of people of their own kind who suffer at the hands of their brothers.