Mandabi / The Money Order (1968) DVD9 and Blu-Ray Criterion Collection
on September 19th, 2021 at 12:46
Where Ousmane Sembene's 1966 debut feature, Black Girl, clearly reflects the dynamics of French neocolonialism in its front-and-center depiction of a Senegalese nanny and her white Parisian employer, the filmmaker scrutinizes the relationship between oppressor and oppressed in a more allegorical fashion in his 1968 follow-up, Mandabi.
The simple story is about the trouble that befalls an African man named Ibrahima who trys to cash a 25,000 franc money order that he has received from his nephew who is living in Paris.
The money order, of course, causes a problem because all of his relatives and vitually everyone he knows wants some of it; including the local grocer whom he is indebted to. But his real problem is that Ibrahima is unable to cash the money order because he has no ID card, and he can't get an ID card without a birth certificate and he can't get that without some kind of ID. As Ibrahima tries to get all of these he meets head on with a bureaucratic nightmare, which ends up making him more broke than he was before.
Director: Ousmane Sembene
Cast: Makhouredia Gueye, Ynousse N'Diaye, Isseu Niang, Mustapha Ture, Mouss Diouf, Christoph Colomb, Farba Sarr, Serigne N'Diayes
Country: France, Senegal
BD50, DVD9 | 1080p AVC, NTSC | 01:32:12 | 44.9 Gb + 7.28 Gb
Language: Wolof
Subtitles: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Extras:
• Introduction by Aboubakar Sanogo (1080p; 29:46) is an extremely interesting introduction to both this film in particular and Ousmane Sembene's work in general by Sanogo, who is a film and African studies scholar who founded Carleton University's World Cinema Forum and Ottowa's annual African Film Festival.
• Boubacar Boris Diop and Marie Angelique Savane (1080p; 19:25) is another fascinating piece, this one a conversation between Diop, a novelist, journalist and screenwriter, and Savane, a sociologist and feminist activist. The talk focuses on what Mandabi meant for African films upon its release and its continuing legacy.
• Tauw (1080p; 26:47) is a 1970 short film by Sembene which focuses on youth unemployment in Dakar.
• Praise Song (1080p; 15:18) feature outtakes of interviews that were part of the documentary Sembene, a 2015 effort by Jason Silverman and Samba Gadjigo. A host of notables including Yossou N'Dour are interviewed.
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Thank you so much for making the effort to re-post these selections which were once blu-ray only now with DVD as well. 🙂 My heart breaks every time I see there is no DVD edition.
Thank you again.