Herdsmen of the Sun
- TV Movie
- 1989
- 52m
Herzog's documentary of the Wodaabe people of the Sahara/Sahel region. Particular attention is given to the tribe's spectacular courtship rituals and 'beauty pageants', where eligible young ... Read allHerzog's documentary of the Wodaabe people of the Sahara/Sahel region. Particular attention is given to the tribe's spectacular courtship rituals and 'beauty pageants', where eligible young men strive to outshine each other and attract mates by means of lavish makeup, posturing a... Read allHerzog's documentary of the Wodaabe people of the Sahara/Sahel region. Particular attention is given to the tribe's spectacular courtship rituals and 'beauty pageants', where eligible young men strive to outshine each other and attract mates by means of lavish makeup, posturing and facial movements.
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Featured reviews
Watching it, I wondered if the Wodaabe still live as shown in the documentary. There's bound to have been all sorts of challenges to their way of life, whether environmental or political.
Anyway, this is one documentary that I highly recommend. You won't regret having watched it and learned about the Wodaabe.
Do they use mirrors to apply their makeup. None are seen, but some of the young men are holding their hands as if they have a mirror, but this is not confirmed by the camera.
Amazingly, there are no tourists at the festival. Only the German camera crew. We are not shown how the Wodaabe relate to being filmed by these foreigners.
As this film was made for French television, and the opening titles and commentary and the closing credits are in French, should not the French title be the prime one?
In comparison, this documentary by Werner Herzog is more about the overall lifestyle of the people. It subtitles their language and individuals are questioned on screen by the translator. The soundtrack uses opera music in some places.
In my opinion, neither film is great. "Herdsmen of the Sun" is probably more interesting and better filmed and edited than "Deep Hearts", while the latter is probably more authentic.
In addition, the somber tone of the film, combined with the classical European songs dubbed over footage of the Wodaabe, gave the film a unique feeling of looking in from a colonialist perspective. Not the type of mood one wants to set when making an essentially anthropological film.
As a peek into the lifestyle and culture of a foreign people, the film did not fail completely. But, with so many other statements being made, the focus was really taken away from what would appear to be a really interesting group of people.
Did you know
- ConnectionsFeatured in Was ich bin sind meine Filme - Teil 2... nach 30 Jahren (2010)
Details
- Release date
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- Also known as
- Wodaabe: Herdsmen of the Sun
- Filming locations
- Niamey, Niger(bridge at the end)
- Production companies
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