MOOLAADÉ (2004, Senegal/Burkina Faso, 124 min.), directed by Ousmane Sembène; screenplay by Ousmane Sembène; cinematography by Dominique Gentil; edited by Abdellatif Raïss; music by Boncana Naiga; with Fatoumata Coulibaly (Collé Ardo Gallo Sy), Maïmouna Hélène Diarra (Hadjatou Traoré, the First Wife), Salimata Traoré (Amsatou, Collé’s Daughter), Aminata Dao (Alima, the Third Wife), Dominique T. Zeida (Mercenaire), Mah Comapore (The “Dean” of the Circumcisers), Rasmané Ouedraogo (Ciré Bathilly, the Husband), Ousmane Konaté (Amath Bathilly, his elder brother), Moussa Théophile Sowie (Ibrahima Doukouré, Amsatou’s Betrothed), Joseph Traoré (His Father, Alpha Boukouré, the Dugutigi), Modibo Sangaré (Balla Bathilly, Hadjatou’s son), Habibou Dembele (Griot), Naki Sy Savane (Sanate, the Griotte). In Jula and French with English subtitles.
Please answer three of the following questions at length (jot down discussion notes for the rest, also to hand in).
1. Discuss the title, which refers to the traditional, ritual act of protection, of giving sanctuary. Why is this the appropriate title for this film?
2. The film opens with Mercenaire, the itinerant peddler, coming to the village of Djerriso to take advantage of the festivities that are about to occur. What is his role in this film?
3. Like the village in Yesterday, Djerriso is set in modern times; like the village in Yaaba, it seems very traditional. Discuss/describe Djerriso, the village where the action of this film takes place. What is the status quo at the beginning of the film?
4. Compare/contrast the three wives of Ciré Bathilly--Hadjatou Traoré, the First Wife; Collé Ardo, the Second Wife, and Alima, the Third Wife. How would you describe their relationship, and does their relationship change over the course of the film?
5. What is the role of the Dugutigui, the village chief?
6. How about Ibrahima,
his son? What does he bring to the film?
7. This is another film about tradition and modernity, focusing specifically on the traditional practice of female circumcision/excision. Discuss the way that it is handled.
8. Discuss the Salindanna, the council of older women (the women in red) who oversee the circumcisions. How are we supposed to feel about them and the role that they play?
9. One of the interesting twists in the film is the role played by radios. Discuss the symbolic value of this technology.
10. This film includes a griot and his griot wife. Traditionally, the griot is the living archive/repository of traditional stories and values (and Sembène himself was often referred to as a cinematic griot). How are the griots in this film presented?
11. Sembène intended this film to be about what he called “everyday heroes.” Has he succeeded? Would you call Collé Ardo an “everyday hero”? Discuss her climactic act of refusal beside the termite mound.
12. Sembène has said that he feels that Moolaadé is the most African of his films. (Interestingly, it was also one of his most critically acclaimed in the West.) What do you think he means by that?
13. Discuss the music in the film. What do you notice?
14, Based on what you saw in Xala and what
you’ve read about Sembène, what are some of the ways
in which this film bears his style and world view?