This is the type of film that suits someone who doesn't mind watching nothing much happen on screen for stretches at a time.
What makes this less of an issue is that that is probably the whole point of this film: to highlight how difficult it is to get anything done in the Congo. As Lao Yang, the main Chinese project manager, states during the film "It's all so tiresome". He also states: "People here don't have any sense of time."
As a viewer, the director does a good job of getting you to feel his exasperation at the slow pace of development.
The film is an interesting look into cultural differences between the Chinese company attempting to build a road, and the Congolese labourers and translator who, in the Chinese managers' eyes are lazy and untrustworthy.
What's fascinating is how the main Chinese manager, Lao, doesn't mince his words. What would be considered racist opinions among white westerners are expressed openly by both him and his colleagues. You may not appreciate his choice of words, but even within the short length of this film, it is hard not to come around, at least in part, to his perspective. His 'get up and go' mentality doesn't gel with the slow pace of life and work ethic present in the Congo. The final scene, in particular, is powerful for his cutting remarks on how Africans had inherited such infrastructural wealth and, yet, let it decay around them.
While it is a fascinating look at what might be described by some as modern colonialism in Africa, the film does feel long. Yes, that is likely the purpose, but there far too few scenes such as the final, aforementioned, scene to make up for the plodding pace. Many shots involve no real dialogue, but, instead, just shots of the poorly-maintained roads, and dilapidated surroundings. It also would have been nice to have heard more from the Africans and what they thought of their Chinese managers.
If you know what you're getting into, then check this film out.
The film is an interesting look into cultural differences between the Chinese company attempting to build a road, and the Congolese labourers and translator who, in the Chinese managers' eyes are lazy and untrustworthy.
What's fascinating is how the main Chinese manager, Lao, doesn't mince his words. What would be considered racist opinions among white westerners are expressed openly by both him and his colleagues. You may not appreciate his choice of words, but even within the short length of this film, it is hard not to come around, at least in part, to his perspective. His 'get up and go' mentality doesn't gel with the slow pace of life and work ethic present in the Congo. The final scene, in particular, is powerful for his cutting remarks on how Africans had inherited such infrastructural wealth and, yet, let it decay around them.
While it is a fascinating look at what might be described by some as modern colonialism in Africa, the film does feel long. Yes, that is likely the purpose, but there far too few scenes such as the final, aforementioned, scene to make up for the plodding pace. Many shots involve no real dialogue, but, instead, just shots of the poorly-maintained roads, and dilapidated surroundings. It also would have been nice to have heard more from the Africans and what they thought of their Chinese managers.
If you know what you're getting into, then check this film out.
