Timbuktu

A film about the daily reality of Islam fundamentalism is a courageous project - even more so when the maker himself is a Muslim. For this reason alone, 'Timbuktu' cannot be praised enough. It will get plenty of international exposure, because this film is the first ever Oscar entry from Mauritania, and luckily it made the Foreign Language shortlist of nine candidates, out of 83 entries.

'Timbuktu' shows how Libyan jihadists invade Mali and turn the lives of the locals upside down. The Malinese are no longer allowed to play music or to smoke cigarettes, the women are obliged to cover their heads when in public, and sharia courts are issuing cruel and undeserved punishments. In spite of all this, the film is not at all harsh or bleak. On the contrary, most scenes show the Malinese living an idyllic life and trying to make the best of the situation. Some scenes are almost hilarious: the jihadists have to cope with serious language barriers to get their message across, they are unable to drive cars and even break their own rules by secretly smoking cigarettes.

Filmed in neighbouring Mauritania, the movie is full of beautiful landscapes, nice buildings and good-looking people. This is exactly what bothered me a little bit: sometimes you have the impression that you're watching a documentary on National Geographic Channel, showing the beauty of Mali. I can't imagine life in this dirt poor country being even half as peaceful and harmonious as is suggested in this film. A little more third world realism would have been appropriate, including the daily struggle for life of people living in extreme poverty.

Nevertheless, the film is a joy to watch, and contains some extremely beautiful scenes. One example is the scene of a football team playing a game without a ball, because it is confiscated by the jihadists. A perfect and original way to show how Muslim fundamentalism can be defeated, against all odds.

In the middle of the beauty of Saharian Africa, a shepherd and his lovely wife have to face the punishment of jihad's authorities in Timbuctu, a town in Mali. Religious authorities control even the most intimate gestures in the middle of crude poverty. A moral dictator, as usual conducts himself in double standard. Jihadism, persecutes not only sensual expressions such as the beauty of songs and music played by the people in the village, but also any expression of individuality. Amine Bouhafa's, music compositions are profoundly moving as also the sound of the original language, a soothing tender sound. The random of being born in such a place simply changes the life and options of the characters, leaving very little to free will.

"Timbuktu" is a brave film from Mauritania that shows what it's like in a small African town after it's been taken over by Jihadists determined to enforce Sharia Law. However, I should warn you--the film is far from enjoyable and seems rather hopeless and it also lacks the usual resolution you'd expect in a movie. This is not a criticism, as giving it a happy ending would have been ridiculous.

The film shows a variety of scenarios in which harsh Muslim law is implemented. Having fun of any type seems illegal--no singing, no music, no playing soccer...nothing. In addition, a man kills another man in self-defense and is brought to this tribunal...and his family is now left defenseless without a man to protect him.

Considering the film's pedigree, it is amazingly professional looking. The music is excellent and haunting, the acting very natural. Overall, a sad but intense drama that shows a slice of life...a very ugly slice.

I don't believe there is one frame in this film that is not gorgeous, that couldn't be displayed as a photograph at a gallery. The muted colors of the desert, the medieval architecture of the town, the tragically expressive faces always glowing in a magical light--all of it is almost painfully beautiful. The story is beyond tragic. By seemingly digressing into numerous anecdotes illustrating the quirks of the population, the director allows us to appreciate deeply the texture and social fabric of the community that is being poisoned by madness. We see in particular its effect on an extremely appealing but by no means sanctified family. This is one of the film's extraordinary strengths as well. No character is oversimplified; even the appalling jihadists are granted their humanity. I've seen "Boyhood" and "Birdman", the apparent favorites for the Oscar. "Timbuktu" utterly blows both those fine movies out of the water.

"Let me say this loud and clear. There is a world of difference between terrorist acts and the Islamic Shari'a. Islam is not only a religion, but a way of life. And at its heart lie the sacred principles of tolerance and dialogue." King Hussein I

A popular cliché is to refer to "Timbuktu" as the farthest, out-of-it-all place on earth, like "You can go to Timbuktu for all I care." However, in writer/ director Abderrahmane Sissako's remarkable film, Timbuktu, the world rests in miniature in the sand dunes of gorgeous Mali, where a Bedouin family can languish in the shade of their tent while a small boy herds their cattle and nearby fishmongers ply their trade by a welcoming pond. It is a world seemingly removed from stress, a paradise.

In the cell-phone age, no one is too far away and paradise easily shattered, as the natives use their phones to coordinate their herds and their lives. So do the Muslim jihadists, who use their phones to control the natives, bending them to their will on such mundane matters as wearing gloves and playing music. In a way, the low-key policing by the jihadists employing Shari'a seems to contrast with the notorious ISIS, whose control extends to burning and beheading.

All is relatively tame until one Bedouin's pregnant cow is killed by a fishmonger, and the herder murders in revenge. The Long-distance wide-angle shot of the two men in a death struggle is remarkably beautiful and ominous, like David Lean's memorable Lawrence of Arabia scenes.

The local jihadist authority follows God's law in this case while it takes a woman into custody for not wearing gloves and carries out murderous punishment on musicians. This tranquil paradise slowly becomes a hotbed of repression while the director still shoots lovely scenes that belie the suppression already reaching into the lives that seemed so far removed.

Underneath the obvious meting out of "justice" is the subjugation of women, almost as if radical Muslim orthodoxy had this prejudice as its cornerstone. This film drives that oppression home as few others have done because it makes it a quiet but persistent issue in daily activity. The very peacefulness of the living in Mali and the sweet sparseness of the mise en scene could almost make us think the radicalism is acceptable. But when you see men buried in sand and rocks thrown at their heads, you know life in the sand in not romantic.

Timbuktu is rated PG-13, a triumph in good taste as murder and subjugation are the dominant activities. A film that allows young persons to see the world's injustices through a beautiful lens is a film worth sharing in the hope of removing radical Islamists from paradise. Let them have their virgins and soon.