Hyenas (1992)

Dramaan is the most popular man in Colobane, but when a woman from his past, now exorbitantly wealthy, returns to the town, things begin to change.

Director:

Djibril Diop Mambéty

Writers:

Djibril Diop Mambéty, Friedrich Dürrenmatt (play)

Stars:

Ami Diakhate, Djibril Diop Mambéty, Mansour Diouf

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Ami Diakhate	...	Linguere Ramatou
Djibril Diop Mambéty	...	The Judge
Mansour Diouf	...	Dramaan
Calgou Fall	...	The Priest
Faly Gueye	...	Mme. Drameh
Mamadou Mahourédia Gueye	...	The Mayor
Issa Ramagelissa Samb	...	The Professor

Storyline

A once-prosperous Senegalese village has been falling further into poverty year by year until the village's elders are reduced to selling town possessions to pay debts. Linguère, a former resident and local beauty, now very rich, returns to this, the village of her birth. The elders hope that she will be a benefactor to the village. To encourage her generosity, they appoint a local grocer, Dramaan, as mayor--who once courted her and will now try to persuade her to help. In fact, Linguère has returned with the intention of sharing her millions with the village but only in return for an unexpected action. This plot twist brings human folly and cynicism into sharp focus.

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Plot Keywords:

grocer | wealth | train station | tragic event | spinster | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Switzerland France Senegal UK

Language:

Wolof French Japanese

Release Date:

10 February 1993 (France)

Also Known As:

Hienas

Filming Locations:

Senegal

Company Credits

Production Co:

ADR Productions, Channel Four, DRS

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Version of The Visit (2008)

User Reviews

Good story but with bland scenes and acting.

The film has a pretty slow tempo but the story it tells has some great meaning behind it. Ramatou represents the Western capitalist ideology and the Senegalese village a cultural way of living. When the villagers slowly rid themselves of their cultural values, they can be seen as 'selling out' to the western values, that which Ramatou represents with her wealth.

Quite a lot of scenes seem pretty random to me in this film, and I did not understand what they represented. Also, the montage with the hyenas could probably have been cut down. One or two juxtapositions would be enough to make that connection strong, but too many clips of the hyenas in the wilderness just increased the distance of the film for me. Though the last scene did make me curiouser and curiouser, it was well done.

The acting felt pretty dry too. There didn't seem to be that much emotion behind many of the characters, and the speech was a little awkward. I know this might be a cultural way of speech but it felt too spaced out. For example Dramaan would wait 5-10 seconds before replying or saying something while the camera is on him.

Overall it is a pretty interesting film with many intriguing aspects but just dry.

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