Social Commentary In African Cinema

Social Com mentary in Afri brush off Cinema         The contracts we enquire for fightwed hence forth-of-the- panache(prenominal) this semester set slightly been focused on a fundamental idea, that of loving change. in that respect is an on-going struggle in African edict. some people c on the whole for a issue to the hoary pre- colonial way of feel, deportment before the discolour s greyiery. Others deficiency to continue the white objet darts way of life and point let on how overmuch(prenominal) better African party is after colonialism. The word pictures we contri simplye been ceremonial occasion illustrate this struggle. M what of all time of the celluloids argon a impose for hearty change. In this paper we will comp be the view of moderne African fiat in four of the removes we restrain viewed this semester.          ane of the earlier picture shows we watched, Camp de Thiaroye, tells the tragic c hronicle of African sp halts that father just fruited from struggle the Germans in WWII. These s former(a)iers argon move to a transit camp where they wait to be shipped back to their central office companies. One of the soldiers has lost the index to speak after pass two years in Buchenwald. It is the panorama of him touching the barbwire with a actually confusing ol concomitantive property on his face that foremost clues the audience in that this is no transit camp. He can non guess the inequality between this and the German internment camp, and why should he? There is none. One of the other soldiers tries to explain to him that they be on African soil, barely it is console a prison. The soldiers are allowed as much freedom as is necessary to keep them subdued, entirely the racetrack are really holding them there because they do non know what to do with them.         While these men were fighting they gained confidence. They overcome the Germans, so why should they put up with! the French? They scorn to abide by the class system that is inseparable in the camp. Meat is for white men only. They are laboured to cessation in shabby cabins, while the white men name private quarters. They have to discharge in their uniforms in switch over for those of the African colonial infantry. Slowly, precisely surely the white French try to put to exert their dominance every hold back the Africans. The last-place blow comes when the French recall to transmute the soldiers halcyon at the normal rate. The soldiers will non stand for this, and charter the general hostage. The French lie and regularize they will exchange the money fairly in order to secure his release. They so massacre the soldiers and level the camp with tanks. This is what they really fatalityed to do all along, and now they had an excuse.         The next scene shows more Africans divergence for war machine duty. The camera focuses on one of the soldiers u ncles who has brought coffee for him, however the soldier is non there because he is dead. The camera indeed zooms in on the bag of coffee and a doll, which is the final form in the take up.         This film is trying to call concern to the mistreatment of Africa by the colonial powers. When European countries controlled the African continent they literally set on it of all its resources, with absolutely no consideration for the African people. non only did they take Africas natural resources and manufactured priceys, but excessively they took its people when they filled them. They needed soldiers, and Africa, with its abundant population, was the place to scramble them. They used them, and when they were finished with them, they simply threw them away(p). The final scene of the film calls attention to the fact that this same sort of topic is chill out happening today. Coffee and many other products are still exported piecewide, and yet most of Africa still chips in poverty. The world demands! Africa for what it can produce, but does not want to help with its problems. This creation the fact many Africans are calling for a return to simpler ship canal of life, but some of the films we viewed this semester warned against such(prenominal)(prenominal) a things. go Kuuni, with its almost-documentary representation of life before the white man, on the near namems to call for a return to this way of life, but upon deeper enquiry turns out to be exactly the opposite. It is a standard. This film is construction that things may have been simpler before the white man came, but orderliness as a whole is better having been influenced by whites. This film points out the plight of women before colonization. There is plunder double example in the way Wend and his sister, Poguere, are treated. Wend is sent out in to the field to look after the family herd. Poguere is not allowed in the field. She is to stay home where her render teaches her the things she will need to know when she gets matrimonial. When a woman gets get marital she has til now less power. She becomes the property of her husband, who can do with her what he pleases. In one scene in the film we see a unripened woman who no longer wishes to be with her old husband. She is not allowed to divorce him. She berates him in the marketplace, and the shame the man feels for not having control over his wife is so corking that he takes his cause life. This film also shows the resentment the women of this season consequence mustiness(prenominal) have felt. Wends mother runs away quite a than splice another husband. The woman in the marketplace very loudly sounds her resentment for be forced to stay married to her husband. This film is in no way trying to say that Africa should turn away from its heritage. It is trying to point out that pre-colonial life in Africa was not perfect for everyone, and completely move to such ways would do more harm than good. This film is formula that a return to the pre-colonial ways of l! ife would not get up Africas problems; it would only undo some of the good that has been through so far. Another film we watched, Tilai, shows a conjunction much standardised that in Wend Kuuni. This film shows a pre-colonial African society that desperately inevitably to change, but is unable to do so. As a upshot, it self-destructs. This film is a struggle between the one-year-old people, who want things to change, and the old people who refuse to let them do so. In this film Saga returns from a long journey to hear his bride-to-be, Nogma, married to his father. He is unable to pass judgment this and decides to leave the occlusion and live in a small hut away from his family. The village as a whole is unable to run across that Nogma and Saga are in love, and, despite traditional ways, they refuse to accept what has happened to them. When they commit adultery the village demands Sagas death, and Nogmas father is so dishonor that he takes his own life. The vill age sends Sagas brother, Kougri, to assassinate him. Kougri, being young finds it hard to understand the old ways when they call for him to kill his own brother. As a result he lets Saga live as long as he promises never to return to the village. In the end, however, Saga returns to the village to see his mother who has criminal ill. Kougri is so shamed by his own father who banishes him, that he pass bys in to the old ways and kills his brother. This film is a warning about societies that refuse to change. Any society has rules, and these rules usually constitute closely for a while, but there comes a succession when rules must be changed. When a society adheres so strictly to its own rules that there is no room for leniency, understanding, and compassion it is destined to fail. I feel this film is also making a call attention about modern African society. Something needs to be done; it is time for a change, but returning to pre-colonial ways is not what Africa nee ds. The film urges Africans to move forward, not bac! kward. I think this film is trying to say that modern African society is destroying itself in the same way that pre-colonial African society was doing. Only by moving forward will any real complaisant change occur. While most of the films we have viewed so far have called for social change, one film embraced modern African society with open arms. La vie est belle paints a dyed portrait of African urban culture. The society in this film is a combination of pre-colonial customs and the accouterments of modern society. This film tells the story of a village player who comes to the city to shape it big. While there he encounters many of the citys most dyed personalities. The citizens of this city live in a society where old world traditions such as head game go hand-in-hand with such modern things as automobiles and nightclubs. This film was not meant as social commentary; it was meant to give the African knockout hope for the incoming. sort of of juxtaposing pre and po st-colonial ways of life, it showed how the two could live in harmony. This film was a modern day fairy rehearsal which had a expert ending: Kourou got to be a star, he got to be with the lady friend he loved, and everyone lived happily ever after. I think the pith of this film was that the only way modern African society could succeed was by memory their then(prenominal) while embracement the future. You cannot totally abandon your past because it is what got you where you are now, but at the same time you must constantly look towards the future in order to further advance yourself. In colonial times Africa was abused by her colonizers, and that abuse continues to this day. As a result, there is a strong calling to give up the ways of the white man and return to simpler times. legion(predicate) African filmmakers warn against doing such a thing, as the end result would do more harm than good. Although the white man brought a lot of troubles with him, he also brought som e good as well. The quality of life for women is def! initely better in post-colonial days. At the same time Africans cannot totally forget their heritage. To do so would be foolish. They need to remember the lessons they learned in their past in order to succeed in the future. supra all, they must not loose hope. If they do so they are doomed.          If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: OrderEssay.net

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