Rêves de poussière

This has to be the yellowest film ever made... landscapes of yellow dust, huts made of yellow straw, men wearing yellow clothes (or more likely, clothes covered with yellow dust)... even the sky is yellow. The only splashes of other colors come in the clothing of the occasional woman. All this makes for a visually interesting effect, much like those old black and white photographs with colors painted on by hand to highlight certain areas. I found this film very interesting, not having been exposed previously to anything about gold mining in Africa, and was not expecting the kind of conditions that it depicts. The portrayal of the characters was done with a lot of dignity, and many themes were touched upon, but neither the themes nor the characters were explored with any depth, which has the effect of making the viewer feel detached from what is happening on screen, although in spite of that, I was able to forget that I was watching a film and enjoy the experience. Perhaps this was intentional. I was quite disappointed that the film didn't seem to have a real conclusion, although, there wasn't really anything to conclude. But real life is not necessarily a series of beginnings and conclusions to stories, and I think this has to be taken as a slice of life. It is definitely worth watching, just to experience a different quality of life.