Written Film Review

This paper provides a review of the movie “Faat Kine”, created in 2001. It is a West-African film which was directed by the ”˜father of African cinema’ – Ousmane Sembene. It should be said that Faat Kine shows the audience not only political and economic issues, but also the moral ones. Thus, the main character of this film-Faat Kine- is shown as the most restorative, hopeful, and of course, the most greatly crafted story, which Sembene has ever shown regarding the constantly changing roles of Senegalese women. Hence, we may see that Faat Kine, in this sense, may be considered to be a defining text of the idea what exactly “feminism” could mean for the African people in the 21st-century.

Dakar is a combination of everything, featuring a number of shantytowns along with high-rise building, and besides, its streets feature both cattle and flashy Mercedes. In addition, the women’s lives of Dakar have been formed by the tribal customs and traditions and men prejudice and of course, their aspirations of the cutting-edge. So, the main character – Faat-Kine, aged 40, is a gorgeous, sexy, and so called “liberated” single mother who has 2 kids and who was married twice. She has a pushy mother and several friends. Faat is the manager of a rather sparkling gas station, however we can see that her success has been truly hard-bought. It is interesting to mention that she was born during the Senegalese independence. The author is especially thrilling in showing the way she values the control which she is constantly trying to have over her life, thus, balancing modernity with the tradition.

Sembene shows that today both African society and economy are being held together by the females. Thus, he raises a very interesting question, wondering how women can feature such responsibilities, thus, being 100% denied of the same privileges as all the African men have.

I would like to add that the movie shows only some days, but in fact it seems more like one day of Faat Kine’s life, beginning with her kids’ rather successful exam results early in the morning and ending with their nice party which was that night. As to the language, I like it that the film is shown in French but it features English subtitles.

Conclusion

This paper provided a review of “Faat Kine”, the West-African film, created in 2001, which was directed by the ”˜father of African cinema’ – Ousmane Sembene. The film tells about political, economic and moral issues of the Senegalese people. Faat Kine, the main character, is shown as a defining text of the idea what exactly “feminism” could mean for the African people in the 21st-century. Thus, I think that “Faat Kine” is a rather interesting and informative film about women in the men world and I definitely recommend it to everyone interested in social aspects and the global history of the women rights. Besides, I think that this film would seem interesting for both men and women worldwide.

 



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