"Adama" opens up like an African tale the elders would transmit from one generation to another. Nothing in the first scenes can hint at its chronological context nor that it can prepare you to the long journey the titular hero will take. I like movies that surprise me, I like them even more where they mislead me. I anticipated a more serious version of "Kirikou", I got "A Very Long Engagement" instead. Talk about toying with your expectations.
The movie opens with a group of kids plunging from a cliff into a lake in some remote village in Africa and the first image shows Adama in the water in such a state that you can't tell if he's drowning or dreaming. I don't think there's a specific point to that opening except to show us later that the only reason why he's in the water is because he playfully put himself into it. He's simply enjoying one of the many blessings from the Gods (or God) with his friends. He's a normal kid.
Then a strong athletic young man named Samba comes in, he's too old to play with kids but can't resist the temptation to impress them. When the old wise man of the village orders him to come in order to complete his initiation, Samba says "I'm coming" but waits till the everyone's out of sight to plunge. The jump is impeccable but there's something about Samba that shows he hasn't got the makings of a wise young man, an assumption will be confirmed later.
The opening scene perfectly establishes the characters and yet if I had one criticism, it would be in the visual department, even for a European production, the animation looks awkward and sketchy especially when it involves water, the characters look draw and the movements seem to be animated in stop motion. I would have accept it as an artistic license but the animation surprisingly improves in the following scenes so the lack of fluidity in the visuals makes it look as if it was made on a shoestring budget.
Let's get back to the story, the village is called "the world of breaths" or "winds" and during a rite of passage that looks like the one from "The Color Purple" (with the cuttings applied next to both eyes), a bird (eagle or seagull) comes flying interrupts the ceremony at Samba's turn. Bad omen. The initiation is canceled, the wise old man wants to take care of Samba but the young impetuous kid has other plans: joining the Nassara.
Whoever they are, they strike us as more corrupt and greedy than the tribesmen... I was inclined to believe it was a rival tribe, like in some Kurosawa movies but the Nassara were described in such a way that I was thinking Samba had sold his soul to the devil. And I wasn't far from the truth. Now, revealing who the Nassara are wouldn't be much of a spoiler since the whole story takes place in another part of the world, where Adama, aganst all odds will do his best to find his brother and bring him back. I just appreciated the discovery of the Nassara's identity so much that I'd rather warn against spoilers.
So I saw smoke, then a truck, then various parts of modernity that proved that the tribe they came from were the one distant from the real world, hence its "magical spirit" name. The film is set in modern time. And when I saw the big ship awaiting some African, I realized that my knowledge of Arabic should have made me know better, Nassarah is the Arabic word for "Christians", a title that was used in derogatory term to describe the conolizers.
And then we saw Africans lining up to embark on a ship going to Europe, in exchange of the same coins of gold Samba gave Adama; and later when they wear their brown uniforms and red fez, there was no doubt, the film was set in World War I and Adama would go as far as the most murderous place of France, Verdun. At that point, the destination matters les than the journey, and I believe the first act is probably the best part of the film because it takes you from one discovery to another, it comes to the point that once uou know the period and the setting, something leaves the film and what is left is the quest to find Samba and the magical incantations from the mad man.
The real problem with "Adama" is that the main character exists for the sole reason to highlight the struggles of the African soldiers, that's all, he doesn't even an opinion, a question of his all, he's just stubbornly attached to his mission. Sure he has a goal, he's got courage and guts, but the film rather fails to make a connection that goes beyond that simple goal. Even the French boy who helps him to get paris, a sort of Gavroche-like, is more colorful, though he speaks in a French slang too modern to sound historical, but maybe I'm being too picky, would the two kids understand each other in the first place?
The middle act is a bit rushed and weak until we're taken to the trenches and Adama finds his brother miraculously. The battle scenes are riveting and convinving on a technical format but I'm not sure about the resolution of the film but it felt a bit rushed too and anticlimactic, I don't know if it was possible or fantastic or meant as a dream but the problem with a movie that try to show the reality of the war is that it can't really deal with fantasy without losing its impact, the climax seems rather like an aburpt shortcut that could only show "what Africans went through", "what they used to be" and used magic as a cheap plot device rather than keeping it in the periphery of the story.
The movie opens with a group of kids plunging from a cliff into a lake in some remote village in Africa and the first image shows Adama in the water in such a state that you can't tell if he's drowning or dreaming. I don't think there's a specific point to that opening except to show us later that the only reason why he's in the water is because he playfully put himself into it. He's simply enjoying one of the many blessings from the Gods (or God) with his friends. He's a normal kid.
Then a strong athletic young man named Samba comes in, he's too old to play with kids but can't resist the temptation to impress them. When the old wise man of the village orders him to come in order to complete his initiation, Samba says "I'm coming" but waits till the everyone's out of sight to plunge. The jump is impeccable but there's something about Samba that shows he hasn't got the makings of a wise young man, an assumption will be confirmed later.
The opening scene perfectly establishes the characters and yet if I had one criticism, it would be in the visual department, even for a European production, the animation looks awkward and sketchy especially when it involves water, the characters look draw and the movements seem to be animated in stop motion. I would have accept it as an artistic license but the animation surprisingly improves in the following scenes so the lack of fluidity in the visuals makes it look as if it was made on a shoestring budget.
Let's get back to the story, the village is called "the world of breaths" or "winds" and during a rite of passage that looks like the one from "The Color Purple" (with the cuttings applied next to both eyes), a bird (eagle or seagull) comes flying interrupts the ceremony at Samba's turn. Bad omen. The initiation is canceled, the wise old man wants to take care of Samba but the young impetuous kid has other plans: joining the Nassara.
Whoever they are, they strike us as more corrupt and greedy than the tribesmen... I was inclined to believe it was a rival tribe, like in some Kurosawa movies but the Nassara were described in such a way that I was thinking Samba had sold his soul to the devil. And I wasn't far from the truth. Now, revealing who the Nassara are wouldn't be much of a spoiler since the whole story takes place in another part of the world, where Adama, aganst all odds will do his best to find his brother and bring him back. I just appreciated the discovery of the Nassara's identity so much that I'd rather warn against spoilers.
So I saw smoke, then a truck, then various parts of modernity that proved that the tribe they came from were the one distant from the real world, hence its "magical spirit" name. The film is set in modern time. And when I saw the big ship awaiting some African, I realized that my knowledge of Arabic should have made me know better, Nassarah is the Arabic word for "Christians", a title that was used in derogatory term to describe the conolizers.
And then we saw Africans lining up to embark on a ship going to Europe, in exchange of the same coins of gold Samba gave Adama; and later when they wear their brown uniforms and red fez, there was no doubt, the film was set in World War I and Adama would go as far as the most murderous place of France, Verdun. At that point, the destination matters les than the journey, and I believe the first act is probably the best part of the film because it takes you from one discovery to another, it comes to the point that once uou know the period and the setting, something leaves the film and what is left is the quest to find Samba and the magical incantations from the mad man.
The real problem with "Adama" is that the main character exists for the sole reason to highlight the struggles of the African soldiers, that's all, he doesn't even an opinion, a question of his all, he's just stubbornly attached to his mission. Sure he has a goal, he's got courage and guts, but the film rather fails to make a connection that goes beyond that simple goal. Even the French boy who helps him to get paris, a sort of Gavroche-like, is more colorful, though he speaks in a French slang too modern to sound historical, but maybe I'm being too picky, would the two kids understand each other in the first place?
The middle act is a bit rushed and weak until we're taken to the trenches and Adama finds his brother miraculously. The battle scenes are riveting and convinving on a technical format but I'm not sure about the resolution of the film but it felt a bit rushed too and anticlimactic, I don't know if it was possible or fantastic or meant as a dream but the problem with a movie that try to show the reality of the war is that it can't really deal with fantasy without losing its impact, the climax seems rather like an aburpt shortcut that could only show "what Africans went through", "what they used to be" and used magic as a cheap plot device rather than keeping it in the periphery of the story.
