Thursday 5 November 2009

Moolaadé (Review)

An important aspect of global interaction between cultures is that there is, whenever possible, a quid pro quo approach to the exchange. Even if this has not been the case in the economic field oftentimes, at least there is succour in the fact that in many nations different cultures co-exist in almost a peaceful manner, for instance, Malaysia.

But when this trade-off fails, the consequences are disastrous. The reasons for this nonsuccess are multifold but there is one that has always made me scratch my head in total amazement, or should I write, shock: that of human rights and how we view them.

I don't think I am alone in thinking that what happened in Guantanamo during the Bush years was an insult to our human integrity. And the fact that the Obama administration has shown no willingness whatsoever to prosecute those responsible for such cruel acts, is the proverbial salt being rubbed in our collective wound. When in the UK the Metropolitan Police were found guilty of assaulting 'The Big Issue' vendor Ian Tomlinson last April, and causing his death, again the phrase 'human rights' was bandied around.

Why, then, the tepid attitude to female genital mutilation? How come we still refer to it as a 'cultural difference? Where is our outrage to this barbaric practice?

Luckily, we have film-makers like the late Ousmane Sembene to put the record straight. In what became the coda of his excellent body of work, 'Moolaadé', the veteran Senegalese director addressed the issue of FGM and how it affected women. When Collé Gallo Ardo Sy agrees to help a group of four-to-nine-year-olds escape their circumcision ritual and gives them protection (Moolaadé), she sets a series of events in motion, the outcome of which she cannot fathom. But then, Collé is in a better position than many of her co-villagers to assess the damage that will be done to these children. She herself went through the painful process many years ago and she still bears both the physical and mental scars. As a consequence she refuses to have her own daughter circumcised when her time comes, which causes yet more friction between her and the elders. Now, Collé is determined to stick up for these girls and shows her bravery by putting a coloured rope across the entrance to her hut. This is the sign for the Moolaadé and can only be revoked by Collé herself.

In this movie Sembene cleverly uses the analogy of this small village in Burkina Fasso to conduct an X-ray of Africa itself and how practices that have come to be accepted without being properly analysed or discussed are at odds with our modern view of the world. It also helps that his approach is neither gratuitous nor visually violent. Instead we learn of two girls who drown in a nearby river when told they have to go through the ritual. We are shown briefly the small knife used for the circumcisions, we hear off-screen cries. Rather than showing actual gore, Sembene lets us imagine what it's like for girls to go through such criminal procedure. But that his work is thorough and deep there is no doubt.

For starters there's Collé's husband. Although he has more than one wife as it is the custom, he allows them all to have a greater degree of independence than that granted to other spouses. When the elders' council meets to reach an agreement on what to do about Collé, her husband is invited, but he is talked to, rather than consulted. The message is clear, sort out your wife, or deal with the consequences.

Also, the pace of the movie is not as fast as most Western flicks. We are let in on the daily life of a village in Africa and the contrast between how this continent is seen by the first world and by an African film-maker is very stark. No condescension or patronising attitude, Sembene just lets the camera roll. We see women listening to their radios with such fervour that it reminded me of a similar scenario in late 80s Cuba when at 11am most people would be glued to their transistors listening to the famous soap 'El Derecho de Nacer' (The Right to Be Born) on the Cuban-state-censored, Miami-based Radio Marti. We become first-hand witnesses to the banter in which Mercenaire, a travelling trader reputed to be a ladies' man, and the village women indulge. We take front row seats at the ceremony celebrating the arrival from Paris of the son of one of the elders'.

But under this veneer of placidity we encounter a world fraught with tension. And the consequences of this conflict are tragic. Although I was not totally convinced by the ending - thought it a bit over the top -, it did show African women in a different category from the one in which they are usually put. Rather than accepting the elders' decree, Collé rallies a group of women and together they march down to a council meeting to demand that the practice of female genital mutilation stop at once.

According to the World Health Organisation, one of the bodies whose website I checked during my preparations to present the documentary 'Until the Violence Stops' a couple of years ago, FGM 'includes procedures that intentionally alter or injure female genital organs for non-medical reasons.' According to the Human Rights Act 1998, under its 'Right to Life' article, 'Everyone’s right to life shall be protected by law.'

With 'Moolaadé' Ousmane Sembene seriously questions the validity of ancient traditions in today's Africa and places the sacrosanct right to uphold human life above so-called 'cultural differences'. I strongly recommend this film.

Note: I'm sorry that the trailer has Spanish subtitles, I could not find a better one on youtube. Thanks.




Copyright 2009

Next Post: 'Sunday Mornings: Coffee, Reflections and Music' to be published on Sunday 8th November at 10am (GMT)

16 comments:

  1. I viewed a pbs documentary on this recently and was shocked that it not only went on, but that so many know and do nothing......thanx for bringing this to light.

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  2. A horrible practice a horrible place.

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  3. Thanks for letting me know about this film. I felt sick reading this blog because the thought of this still being practised is so distressing. Those women who are standing against it are so brave.

    Jai

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  4. It was haunting to see the beautiful faces and vestiments and to realize that a horrific reality of mutilation hid beneath the surface. Thank you for doing your part in bringing awareness of this tragedy to international awareness.

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  5. Thanks for the review. I had not heard of this movie. I remember a few years ago when female genital mutilation came to the forefront, it was awful to hear of it.

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  6. The barbaric things that parents inflict on their children, that cultures and religions require, that the victims then perpetuate . . . all so unfathomable . . . yet all so real . . . What happens to our humanity and innate compassion?

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  7. That was exactly my question when I was doing research for the aforementioned documentary: What happens to our humanity and innate compassion?

    Many thanks for your kind words.

    Greetings from London.

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  8. horrible & distressing...
    but, I just swam on to your blog & I am glad I did. What an interesting man & what an amzing life. I really enjoyed poking around & getting your opinions & observations.
    Best wishes from Oregon.

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  9. Thanks for your review! SO terrible!!
    Lack of hummanity .

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  10. Your post, which is actually a movie review, is so much more than just that. You discuss a terrible terrible practice that still goes on in some African countries. Africa is an old continent steeped in tradition and custom, and while there is nothing the matter with that, the fact remains that as the times change, we too must change. I can tell you for a fact that although female genital mutilation was outlawed in my home country of Egypt at least three decades ago, in some Egyptian villages the practice continues full force. Families pass on their thoughts one generation to the next, and entire townships are lost in the babble of ages past. It's unfortunate for the girls who grow up to be women devoid of an important aspect of their sexual livelihood by no doing of their own. I cry for them, because I have seen them cry for themselves.

    Nevine

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  11. I'm a fan of Sembene but have not seen Moolade because i was concerned that I wouldn't be able to take the brutality. Thanks for this review, now I know that there's no real violence in the film. FGM has been a hot topic within feminists communities for awhile. As Nevine explains, many communities have outlawed the practice but the brutal ritual continues in secret. I believe that education is the key to really eliminating practices like this.

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  12. this movie does sounds very interesting. I'd like to experience some African culture and to experience the depth of this situation would be a good start, I believe

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  13. You ask why people don't raise a hue and cry. Some folks do, but they are usually too few and too powerless to cause change to happen. Most folks figure it is none of their business. This happened recently in Bahrain where 19 young men were falsely imprisoned and tortured month after month in what amounted to religious persecution. The UN could not help; I know because I got a friend of a relative who works in international human rights at the UN involved; the UN gave up too readily. The Islamic human rights organizations could not help; they did not have the power. The Western embassies in Bahrain turned their backs; not their concern, they said. Fortunately, people around the world prayed over and over again for these young men, and finally, after 18 months of brutality, following a community's praying at the mosque from sundown to sunup, the king granted a surprise pardon and the courts declared the young men innocent -- with no explanation of why that had happened or why at that juncture; a trial had been planned, but the pardon came in place of the trial. (There is information about this online at the various news agencies, who became interested AFTER the pardon.)

    You are right to question why people do not rise up in unison and stop violations of human rights, of one's personal body, and the like. Keep questioning until we start acting more responsibly!

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  14. Many thanks for your feedback. In addition to the above comments I would like to say that indeed, western governments fail to intervene on many occasions citing 'cultural differences' as their favourite excuse. Not that there are that many 'cultural differences' when it comes to invading another country illegaly to take their oil. I strongly believe that the change we can make is from our own position and using our own strengths.

    Many thanks.

    Greetings from London.

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  15. I will watch the trailer when I have access to media later. FGM continues today, even in parts of Kenya - a terrible, inhuman practice. While it is possible some outside intervention may stop the practice, at the bottom of it all is education. Almost a year ago, I blogged about a fifteen year old girl in Kenya who died after she attempted to perform the procedure on herself. She felt "incomplete" because her parents refused to do it; she had completely bought into the belief that her womanhood was at stake. Just horrible.

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  16. Thanks for your words, Mama.

    Greetings from London.

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