Yeelen (1987)

Director:

Souleymane Cissé

Writer:

Souleymane Cissé (writer)

Release Date:

8 November 1991 (Finland)

Genre:

Fantasy

Plot:

A young man with magical powers journeys to his uncle to request help in fighting his sorcerer father. |

Plot Keywords:

Sorcerer | Magic | Black Magic | Animal Sacrifice | Father Son Relationship

Awards:

5 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Issiaka Kane	...	Niankoro, le fils
Aoua Sangare	...	Attou, la jeune femme Peul
Niamanto Sanogo	...	Soma le pere / Djigui the twin
Balla Moussa Keita	...	Rouma Boll, le roi Peul
Soumba Traore	...	Mah, la mere
Ismaila Sarr	...	Bofing, l'oncle
Youssouf Tenin Cissé	...	Le petit garcon d'Attou
Koke Sangare	...	Le chef de Komo
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Youssouf Coulibaly
Manzon Coumare
Souleymane Coumare
Sidi Diallo
Nadje Doumbla
Zan Doumbla
Bremira Dumbla
Tienon Fone
Sibiri Kone
Sekou Konote
Seyba M'Baye
Toumani Soumaoro
Djemori Traoré
Dounanke Traoré

Also Known As:

Brightness (Canada: English title) (informal title) (USA)
Das Licht (West Germany)
La lumière (France)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

Mali | Burkina Faso | France | West Germany

Language:

French | Bambara

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Dilly, Mali

Company:

Atriascop Paris

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

Utter garbage...if you want a good African film, go see "Moolaadé" instead

It's surprising to see the number of rave reviews for this movie. As someone who is passionate and open-minded about all types of foreign cinema, I thought this movie was absolutely horrible with no redeeming value whatsoever.

Not only was it overly long, but it seemed like the director only had a budget of $10 to film what turned out to be nothing more than a meandering, incoherent, pointless piece of drivel masquerading as high art. This movie barely has any plot and NO characterization whatsoever. Sadly, the only memorable thing in the movie is scenes of actual animals being killed, which is terrible.

If, as other reviewers here have said this is how Africans see themselves, then is it any surprise African films don't get much exposure in the world market of cinema?

I also completely disagree with the reviewer who said that people with long attention spans will enjoy this movie. It's more like anybody who's accustomed to such basic cinematic elements as story or character development will not enjoy "Yeelen" as it features neither.

For a far superior film from a similar region in Africa, I would highly suggest Ousmane Sembene's "Moolaadé" from 2004. It too is filmed from an African perspective rather than a Western one...but it actually has a relevant, engaging storyline with fleshed-out characters for whom you actually care.

"Yeelen" on the other hand, is an excruciating, mind-numbing experience that I wouldn't even inflict on my worst enemy. It's as enjoyable as watching urine dry on a toilet seat.