Adanggaman

You've probably heard about the slave trade. However, a common misconception about it is that the European powers trafficked people because Africa was weak. Roger Gnoan M'Bala's "Adanggaman" makes clear that this was not the case. Plenty of the groups of people across the continent exerted considerable economic strength, to the point where the Europeans had to trade on the Africans' terms. Indeed, the slave trade wouldn't have been possible without the complicity of Africans.

Anyway, excellent movie. Both a look at the slave trade, as well as a focus on the lives of the Bambara.

First off the women they kept referring to as Amazons (most likely for the benefit of those who are unfamiliar with African culture) are not Amazons, Amazons come from near the Amazon river. My guess is they needed some name to call them that others watching would understand, but they weren't Amazons. Okay, anyway, good movie that had me for the first hour or so, then suddenly shifted and wasn't very good. The end was good, but cut out about 20-30 minutes and end it there, it would have been practically the same. Anyway, if you can get your hands on it, you may as well watch it, it provides a refreshing change from American movies (not that I don't like them).

I find this film somewhat disappointing. I expected more from it. The enslavement of innocent people is such an emotive subject I thought there would be more dramatic appeal. All the ingredients were there waiting to be put together but the final presentation did not move me as much as it should have.

The action takes place somewhere in Africa in the 17th Century and Adanggaman a tribal chief has set himself up as the top authority on all things African including the right to enslave his neighbours. Netting them like wild animals after burning their huts and pursuing them through the undergrowth as they try to escape he has them shackled in the most cruel way and sold to the highest bidder at auctions. A man may be worth a cow and a sheep and if he is in good physical condition (as most seem to be) he may command an extra animal or two.

The so-called "Amazon" warriors which I thought was a misnomer were a tough lot of trained guards responsible it seems for transporting the prisoners from their tribal home (now burnt to the ground) to a temporary prison unsheltered and exposed to all the elements. The suffering must have been extreme, but that feeling was not conveyed well.

As a matter of fact so many of the scenes were shot in the blackness of night with perhaps just a tiny shaft of light exposing now and again a head or a half face or a pair of eyes. More than a few minutes of this becomes a strain on the eyes and the action of the film does not move forward as it should. May be the art director was let loose at this point and took over shooting, but he must learn that these so-called artistic intrusions must be meaningful if they are to serve the drama.

In a sense this film was an education for me. When I hear of slavery I tend to think of those awful days when blacks were exported to the Western world to serve their white masters and I tend to overlook the slavery of people of their own kind who suffer at the hands of their brothers.

As a result of having Netflix streaming I am now able to see many more films some of which I cannot imagine seeing otherwise. This is one of them. It is true that some of the shots are quite dark and it is the film's most glaring weakness, but let me assure you it has equally compelling strengths. There is a stark reality to the overall product as if the audience has been transported in time to a place where tribal tyrants set into motion one of humanities most shameful chapters. I do not apologize for the depravity of whites in need of free labor out of their own greed for money, power, status or whatever, but in all fairness it makes one wonder how different things would have been if more of a unified and organized resistance could have been made by Africans seeing the immorality of slavery within their own communities. I am not blaming Aficans either. In my opinion they are 100% the victims here but at the same time I must chastise one and all involved in the trade including a culture thousands of years older than ours which condoned it as custom and tradition. Many tribes even rationalized that taking slaves was the human option when compared to ignominious death at the hands of your conquerors. The film despite it's flaws was a true learning experience. Naka, the runaway daughter, was horribly frightening in her make-up and exuding that psychotic killer energy while being a good slave catcher. She may be one of the most terrifying females in filmdom and so few will ever get to see her.

This West African production focuses on the slave trade in the late 17th century, and the complicity of many African tribes and tribal leaders with that trade. The story itself is not particularly riveting, but the cinematography is outstanding (though understandably dark during night time scenes) and the acting is fine. And I have to admit I've got a thing for the Amazon warriors who capture the slaves and march them to their fate.