Cast overview: | |||
Ibrahim Koma | ... | Ladji | |
![]() |
Inna Modja | ... | Aminata |
Quim Gutiérrez | ... | Rafael | |
Olivier Rabourdin | ... | Jean-François | |
![]() |
Ndiaye Ismaël | ... | Zol |
![]() |
Habib Dembélé | ... | Issiaka |
![]() |
Jean-Marie Traoré | ... | Houphouët |
![]() |
Ndiaye Mariame | ... | Assitan |
A young man begins trafficking cocaine and quickly becomes embroiled in the Malian drug ring.
Shot for a good deal of the time using hand-held cameras, "Wulu" is an African thriller that has an urgency and a vibrancy most Western made films lack. Ladji, (a beautifully understated Ibrahim Koma), is the young man who, after losing his job on the cross-border taxis, takes up smuggling cocaine with lucrative if highly dangerous results. First-time director Daouda Coulibaly knows how to construct a narrative that is tight and punchy with never a wasted shot. The film has the feel of a great little B-Movie; the locations may be exotically different from what we're used to but Don Siegel could have made this and that, by the way, is a compliment. Totally terrific.