Africanist Reviews

Stalag 17 (1953)

stereotyped characters in a tense whodunit

[8/10 · 24 December 2023]

I don't think a World War II German PoW camp would be anybody's idea of a fun place to spend Christmas in 1944, but that's what this movie is about. It's an unusual Christmas movie if there ever was one, but the narrator says he's always believed in Santa Claus and always will because of what happened. It deals with themes like the rights of the group and the rights of the individual in interesting ways. It even deals with class struggle, not in the tendentious "oppressed masses vs. Exploiters" way, but a more complicated upper vs. Middle vs. Lower class struggle explained in ways that can make you sympathetic to all three. It's a riveting story that bears repeated viewings more than most whodunits do.

There's obviously an informer among the prisoners in the camp, and most of the dramatic tension in the film comes from trying to figure out who it is.

When I once showed it to a class, of course there wasn't enough time to finish it, so when we got back together to watch the end I went around asking them who they thought the informer was. Everyone had a different answer and nobody had it right. I won't give it away because not everyone has seen this particular Christmas film, and for a lot of people it wouldn't have the same impact if they knew how it ends, but I will mention some things that I think were lost on my class, but that should be mentioned in case you don't pick up on the various stock characters and stereotypes used.

Of course the commandant is not just German, but a Prussian martinet, Colonel Oberst von Scherbach. Yes, he's the kind of Junker Americans love to hate. He tries to be funny but of course can't.

The immediate supervisor of the men in the barracks, Sgt. Johann Sebastian Schulz, tries even harder to be funny and fails even more miserably. If you've seen "Hogan's Heroes" you may recognize the inspiration for the Sgt. Schulz in that old TV show.

The top prisoner, Barracks Chief Sgt. Hoffman is obviously German American. He has no sense of humor, doesn't even try, and thinks everything should be done by the book and according to the rules. He may not like the Germans or even get along with them, but he's the guy to deal with them. He can figure them out better than most of the others can.

Sgts. Harry Shapiro and "Animal" Kuzawa are Jewish and Polish respectively. As the camp clowns they have a great act going, and provide enough comic relief that the film was actually marketed as a comedy. And admittedly they aren't the only comic aspects to a situation you'd have to laugh at just to keep from crying.

The two main characters, Sgt. J. J. Sefton and Lt. James Dunbar, are quite different stereotypes. They are both from the same state (Massachusetts) and even knew each other before going into a prison camp together.

Sgt. Sefton is a Yankee trader, the kind of sharp operator that made a president from his state famously claim that "The chief business of the American people is business." He's resented for his business acumen, especially in a situation as desperate as the one the American prisoners are all in together.

Lt. Dunbar is a Boston Brahmin, very old money upper class. Curiously Sgt. Sefton resents him for personal as well as other reasons, but . . .

Well, I'm getting too close to spoiler territory. Just watch the film. You won't regret it.

The Lion in Winter (1968)

Plantagenet family Christmas

[10/10 · 24 December 2023]

Plantagenet family Christmas, when the only law in England was whatever King Henry said it was, and he had a terrible temper, if a great sense of humor. But this is the Middle Ages, so he's not from England, and the film takes place in France.

The kings of England and France get together for Christmas with two future kings of England and the former Queen of France (and then Queen of England), Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine. I don't think King Philip Augustus realizes Henry's been banging his sister, Princess Alais, but no matter. A wonderful time is had by all as plots ravel and unravel, presents are exchanged, much wine is consumed, and feasts for all are enjoyed. It's a wonderful look at the great king who established the Common Law that so many countries, not to mention 49 of the United States, still use today, and his family, including his favorite son, who was such a terrible king that he had to sign the Magna Carta, a laundry list of the bad things he'd been doing, together with promises not to do them any more. It's one of my favorite movies, and a wonderful reminder that no matter how dysfunctional your own family might be, it couldn't be as messed up as these guys. But on the other hand, no matter whatever your own accomplishments might be, they couldn't rank with those of these people either. Those three lions that symbolize England and its soccer team? Those are Henry, Eleanor, and Richard. In the film you see them as two lions before Richard, the Lionheart, added his own to make it three.

In addition to one of my favorite actresses, Katherine Hepburn, it stars such great actors as Peter O'Toole and a young Anthony Hopkins, in addition to a future James Bond. It's not just a family drama for the holidays, but a great love story for the ages, and a cult film now for several decades running. See it if you haven't. Watch it again if you have.

Living (2022)

Lost in Translation?

[7/10 · 30 June 2023]

A remake is almost never as good as the original. Remaking a classic film is particularly difficult when the story is moved to a different culture. The taboo against telling patients they have a terminal illness in a culture famous for its high rate of suicide, such as Japan, is difficult to reproduce in other societies, but that is far from the only cross cultural quandary in this film.

Some transpositions were obvious and expected, such as switching baseball to cricket. Changing an old Taisho sentimental song into an old Scottish sentimental ballad was unexpected and inspired. The importance of drinking parties in Japan and the "in vino veritas" lubrication of intragroup communication that those parties provide was much more difficult and only attempted as commuter conversations. But some of the most westernized aspects of the original film were ignored in the remake, and I wonder how well the filmmakers understood that original.

The overt allusion to the Faust legend was cut. The "Happy Birthday" song was also left out although it was important to the symbolism. In the original film the hero clutches a toy rabbit as he runs down the stairs having suddenly come to life. He had become "born again" with that rabbit. In this film the toy rabbit is devoid of symbolism.

I don't mean to imply that Kurosawa was a religious filmmaker, much less a Christian one, but he did use symbolism, and the allegory of the hero as a Christ figure was explicitly mentioned in the original. Of course the Easter Bunny has nothing to do with the story of Christ and the Resurrection, but Japanese sometimes tend to mix things up when they absorb western symbolism. This was a story about a man who only came to life when confronted with the inevitability of his own mortality. The Faust legend and a resurrection were important in the story. Why they were taken out of the remake is a mystery to me. They really didn't need to be translated. They were western imports to Japan to begin with, just as the original film had been partly inspired by a Tolstoy novella.

A Good Man in Africa (1994)

so much wasted potential

[6/10 · 17 November 2003]

Don't be fooled by the "East Africa" disclaimer. This is about Nigeria, specifically Lagos at the time of the oil boom, when it was the capital. Although many names have been changed, the Yoruba thunder god, Shango, is not, nor are some of the others.

There was so much humor possible in that time and place (you had to laugh just to keep from crying sometimes) that of course some of it found its way into the film. The author never understood what was happening, so of course he missed a lot, but then he made the very ignorance of the British one of the butts of his humor. God I love British humor, I envy them for it and I'm grateful to them for giving us Chaplin, Bob Hope, and so many others. But I digress. And this film is not on the level of Chaplin or Hope. I was disappointed.

The biggest disappointment was watching great talents like Sean Connery, Diana Rigg and Lou Gossett sleepwalking through their roles on their way to a paycheck. They could have done better.

Shehu Umar (1976)

flawed but enjoyable (and important)

[8/10 · 17 November 2003]

A faithful adaptation of one of the novels that began modern Hausa literature in the colonial period, by the future Prime Minister of Nigeria, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. The acting is a bit stilted at times, and the director betrays his training in documentaries. But Hausa (or "Haoussa" as they spell it in most of the French speaking countries) is the largest language in Africa south of the Sahara, and if you are at all curious to see a Hausa movie, or real African film, this is one to see.

When I saw it in the States with a friend we watched a long dialogue at the beginning, followed by subtitles which translated the exchange with two words: "Hello." and "Hello."

My friend leaned over and whispered "What did they say?"

"That was it." I explained "That was 'hello' in Hausa."

It may not always make sense to you, but to the Hausa this movie was a hit, and remains a classic, "must see" Hausa film.

Vanilla Sky (2001)

less than meets the eye (spoilers)

[5/10 · 8 April 2003]

This film is even more pretentious than most people realize. What's Cruise yelling when he's asleep? "L. E.!" (interpreted at "Elly!"). In two of the gospels, Jesus's last words were "Eli, Eli, lamma sabachthani?" (My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?)

So what happens to Cruise at the end of the film? He's being resurrected. After calling "My God!" (L.E.)

But all the clever allusions in this film (Citizen Dildo? Give me a break.) don't add up to a thought provoking movie.

For people who wonder how much was supposed to be "real": The whole thing was a movie. Just enjoy it.

The Bushbaby (1969)

Lou Gossett is Amazing! (warning! possible spoilers)

[10/10 · 6 November 2001]

This is an overlooked gem in an overlooked genre, girls' adventure stories. Most films for children seem to be either boys' adventure stories or girls' romances. Rarely are there romance movies for boys or adventure stories for girls, although there do seem to be more and more of the latter being made lately.

I got this film for my daughter because I thought she would like it. I was right, not just because it was an adventure film for girls, but because she had lived in Africa, including Kenya, and she could recognize much in the film that was familiar. It has many of the usual African images (Masai boma, wildlife, etc.) but unlike many films set in Africa it will not make anyone who has actually been to the continent alternately laugh and groan. It also uses Africa as Africa, rather than as just an exotic setting for events and relationships that could have occurred elsewhere.

The main character is a white girl who was born in Kenya, but whose father is taking her back to England with him because Kenya is becoming independent. Her mother had been killed in the Mau Mau uprising, and she doesn't understand why her father insists on leaving. The story revolves around her struggle to return her pet bushbaby (lemur) to the wilderness whence it came.

This is very much a family film, as opposed to a children's film. There is a lot of material for family discussion in this movie, such as what the colonial police officials mean when they smugly insist that they "know the African mentality." It can be used to start discussions about the nature of nationality, the rights of immigrants and those who were born in a country, and other questions of identity and belonging, not to mention racism and colonialism.

The characters are generally nuanced as well. The good-hearted white doctor who saves the girl's life is also a racist who tries to kill her African friend, who also saved her life. This is not a cartoon on film, with clear heros and villains, but rather a believable story about humans caught in a web of misunderstandings. In other words, it's much like real life.

The most amazing aspect of this movie to me was the acting by Lou Gossett, Jr. In this film he still wore that "lean and hungry look" of a struggling actor. I didn't recognize him at first, until I saw his name in the credits. I still find it hard to believe it was an American. Too often an African-American who is cast as an African doesn't realize how Africans behave very differently from African-Americans, and their white director often seems to have trouble telling one black from the next. Not in this film, though! Gossett's performance is so professional I can only say that his Oscar was long overdue. As my daughter put it, amazed to learn that the actor had been an American, "He even got shot like an African!"

Congo (1995)

It should have been marketed as a comedy.

[1/10 · 3 November 2001]

I'm sorry to have to say that as my honest impression, when I know the film makers were serious about what they were doing, but I just couldn't stop laughing by the end of this movie, and neither could my wife. It was so bad it was just bad. I have to give it one star for making me laugh so hard, but that's all.

Seven Samurai (1954)

The greatest movie ever filmed

[10/10 · 17 September 2001]

I happened to catch this film one afternoon when I was home sick from school, many decades ago in Los Angeles. I was channel surfing, looking at the TV guide, and saw there was some samurai movie on channel 11. Nothing else on.

Whoah, this was NOT your usual samurai flick! This was amazing. This was definitely worth seeing again. I have never seen anything like it before or since, and I've seen all the remakes from "Magnificent Seven" to "Bug's Life."

Akira Kurosawa is not the greatest Japanese director, he is the greatest director in history, anywhere in the world. If you haven't seen his films, you haven't seen film. Start with this one. It's his masterpiece.