This is a part of an ongoing project in which I watch one movie from a different country every week. 

BRIGHTNESS (YEELEN) – 1987

RUNNING TIME: 105 Minutes

DIRECTOR: Souleymane Cisse

WRITTEN BY: Souleymane Cisse

STARING:
Issiaka Kane
Aoua Sangare
Niamanto Sanogo

WHERE CAN YOU FIND IT: Netflix DVD. You can buy the DVD on Amazon but unfortunately it isn’t streaming. I borrowed a copy from the Baltimore County Public library. Your library might also own a copy.

PLOT: Niankoro, a young man hunted by his sorcerer father, journeys to seek refuge with his uncle. On the way, Niankoro practices his own mystical abilities and finds the strength to face his father.

MEMORABLE MOMENT: The final  confrontation between Niankoro and his father, Soma. The visuals are more symbolic than action packed. However, that makes the climax all the more dramatic. This scene is unforgettable for its images of utter destruction and eventual rebirth.

*I should note that the beginning of the film contains graphic images of animals (specifically chickens) being killed. I couldn’t confirm that these scenes weren’t simulated but they looked pretty real. Part of the purpose of this project is to step outside my comfort zone but people who are unsettled by such images might want to skip this movie or just fast forward through the first three minutes.

It goes without saying that Yeelen would be very different if it had been made in Hollywood.  While the film follows a hero on a magical quest, it has a slow pace (matching the pace of the character’s society) and there are few special effects. The final battle is more like something designed by David Lynch than Peter Jackson.

Quite possibly the greatest difference between Yeelen and Hollywood films set in Africa is the total lack of Americans. Had this film been made in Hollywood, there would be at least one American and the audience would view the culture through his or her eyes (I am making a general statement, there may be exceptions). Yeelen’s story exists to follow Niankoro on his journey and to present his world as it is, not to explain the setting or characters to the audience. In this way the film is unlike anything you would expect to see in American movie theaters. That being said, it is also filled with common symbols and archetypes found in countless myths and Hollywood cinema.

Yeelen (based on legends told by the Bambara people) is further evidence of how universal the world’s stories are. While I am not familiar with Mali or its culture, it wasn’t a struggle to pick up on familiar images and themes. For example, there is a magic spring in which our hero bathes and emerges “reborn,” similar to a baptism or fountain of youth. There is a blind wise man who gives advice and is connected to the “other world,” similar to countless prophets.

The most glaring of these familiar archetypes is the conflict between father and son. Niankoro’s father, Soma, pursues his son up until the film’s climax. Similar generational conflicts can be found in the Arthurian legends, Greek  and Nordic myths as well as countless others. Modern cinema is also filled with similar struggles between heroes and their fathers. Of course one of the most famous of these is Star Wars.

Yeelen almost perfectly follows Joseph Campbell’s outline of the hero’s journey with the “Call to Adventure” (Niankoro has a vision of his father’s murderous intentions and flees for the safety of his uncle’s domain), a meeting with a mystical being/mentor (Niankoro encounters a hyena spirit in the desert who tells him that he is destined for great things), a series of trials/obstacles (our hero survives the wilderness and uses his mystical abilities to save a village), a return to face his enemy (Niankoro leaves the safety of his uncle’s sanctuary to face his father) and at last death and rebirth.

Yeelen is a mystical movie with a tone, setting and culture very different from most found in mainstream American cinema. However, the symbols, archetypes and characters are universal. The film is just further proof that storytellers are still influenced by sources that have existed for countless generations.