Guimba the Tyrant - Tough World Cinema
Thoughts On: Guimba the Tyrant (1995)
Made by Cheick Oumar Sissoko, this is the Malian film of the series.
As chaotic and opaque as Guimba the Tyrant presented itself to be to myself, it produces a unique cinematic space through the depiction of a fantastical African village on the fringe of colonialism, yet steeped in its own madness. We are pulled into a small town which quickly descends into civil war as the leader's son - backed by some loyal goons - starts picking and choosing women from the village, even if they are married, to rape. The men resist and families are seemingly torn apart, but the midget falls in love and demands a noted man divorce his wife so he can marry her. The film becomes a tremendous blur from here of magic and gun firing in the sand nonsense. Eventually the tyrant is overcome by the villagers after separatists entice him to kill his son through a female decoy and then lure him into a mob who allow the rise of a new chief.
Showcasing director, Cheick Oumar Sissoko's, interest in African history Guimba is laced with historical symbols and imagery that produce a bewildering depiction of tyranny. The film succeeds in its production of what could be deemed an African cinematic space - that African distinction from American and European cinema being intended by Sissoko. Its imagery and narrative style have clear historical influence that sees the plot unfold at a comedic and abrupt pace one can feel ever more intensified in modern African comedies - some from Nigeria being ones I have been most exposed to, and that bear a distinct national style as a result of the strength of the industry in the region. For this, Guimba the Tyrant was fascinating despite the blocks presented by the difficulties of translating comedy. It has indeed reminded me of the challenges of world cinema; that not all aspects are easily immersed in or accessed. Such comes as a refreshing reminder of the breadth of cinema and the infinite possibilities in the manifestation of narrative.
What I understand of the film upon reflection, however, is that it is a melodramatic political satire. Sissoko is regarded as an educated figure who went on to become a member of government, founding the African Solidarity for Democracy and Independence, a pan-African, communist, political party. It was in 1992, three years before the release of Guimba that a significant change in government occurred in Mali: a separation of governmental power across multiple parties. Sissoko was involved in the politics of this, coming to power in government positions after the release of Guimba. He was associated in the years following 1995 with far left political ideologies that erupted from an overthrowing of Moussa Traoré. Traoré was a solider part of the movement that overthrew the French colonial powers in the 60s that went on to become leader, some would say dictator, of Mali between 1968 and 1991. The end of his reign saw him arrested and condemned to death for embezzlement, murder and other political crimes. He and his wife were later pardoned. Nonetheless, Guimba the Tyrant emerges from the period in Mali of a new government system and injection of cultural thinking. As a reflection of that, we can see from Sissoko a slightly more nuanced condemnation of tyranny. In an era in which a dictator was recently overthrown, Sissoko choses to reflect on political overthrows in a historical, fantastical context. In such, I can see a demonstration of condemnation of violent masculine lust and greed; a leader retaining power by promising his followers and kin the fulfilment of their lust in the hoarding of wives. What corrupts them is their own greed and lust for women with the fathers love interests eventually crossing with his son's. Reduced to sexual greed, those in power destroy themselves in the abandonment of community, family and women. Such ideals echoed in the cultural politics of Mali in the 90s.
Whilst I am still left slightly befuddled by the absurd satire that makes this statement on the corruption of power through the destruction of family and community alike with this political background in place, it stands that Guimba the Tyrant is a distinct film, embedded in an African space. It is evidently a revolutionary film with its absurd melodrama that evokes political happenings of the times from a figure on the far left of its spectrum and is therefore intriguingly baffling.
