Wùlu

Shot for a good deal of the time using hand-held cameras, "Wulu" is an African thriller that has an urgency and a vibrancy most Western made films lack. Ladji, (a beautifully understated Ibrahim Koma), is the young man who, after losing his job on the cross-border taxis, takes up smuggling cocaine with lucrative if highly dangerous results. First-time director Daouda Coulibaly knows how to construct a narrative that is tight and punchy with never a wasted shot. The film has the feel of a great little B-Movie; the locations may be exotically different from what we're used to but Don Siegel could have made this and that, by the way, is a compliment. Totally terrific.

I have always craved for crime flicks from all over the world: America, UK, Europe, Israel, Asia, Iran, Australia, and of course Africa. And this film is among the best for me. The tale of a young man and hoodlum who decides to get involved in the drug traffic, high scale traffic, to at last get out from poverty. It is a social crime feature, so realistic and played in the best manner. Actors are excellent, and you have here a shooting sequence aboard a car which is far better than most US made ones, a so realistic scene that glues you to your seat. You find here the rise and fall scheme of a hoodlum, which you have in most gangster movies from all over the planet since so many years. A real must see. Far better than Hollywood billion dollars super heroes craps.

Ladji works as a van driver in Mali. He seems to be quite tired or bored with his work. One day he accepts to smuggle drugs. After that, he starts making a lot more money than usual. Ladji also has a sister. Her name is Aminata and she can, because of the new big money, say goodbye to her work as a prostitute.

I must ask an important question. Who or what is the main enemy here? Is it the drugs, Ladji´s some sort of inner demons, the border control, the Malian government or one of Ladji´s bosses or co-workers? Personally, I´m not sure. But my guess is the drugs.

And where is Ladji´s and Aminata´s parents? Why doesn´t anybody talk about them? Are they dead or alive? Did they abandon or disown their children? Are they just on vacation? Do they know anything about their children´s everyday life? It´s very important to have good role models. It can be a parent or a guardian. Who is Ladji´s or Aminata´s role model?

I think that "Wùlu" is quite good. But for me it isn´t a great masterpiece. I think that too many questions were left unanswered. Should I recommend "Wùlu"? If so, to whom?

If Wulu tells indeed how a young man joined the drug crime and climbed its rank. Ladji character is harsh, focused on his objective but also sensitive and its portrait is nicely painted in the movie.

But this is not only a movie about crime and it is also the depiction of modern East Africa Its cities, and the dynamics, the vitality peculiar to Africa. The pit between common people from the wealthy, the future they can hope, and of course, the corruption at all levels. The director also used the story to show and denounces the links between crime and terrorism. All in all, it draws a harsh but true to the situation political assessment

To sum up, Wulu is already itself a good crime drama, and becomes thanks to that a real nice movie and deserves your attention.