The first shots are jarring, the sound of gunfire breaking through the peaceful scenery as a jeep full of armed men shoot at a fleeing gazelle.
“Tire it! Tire it!” they cry as they shoot near it but not at it. “Don’t kill it, tire it!”
Eventually, their game diverts from live animals to little people-shaped targets made of wood and clay, which collapse as the bullets tear into them.
If you want to (but you won’t), you could stop right here and pick out the message that Director Abderrahmane Sissako had in mind for “Timbuktu,” the West African film that landed itself an Oscar nomination in this year’s foreign language film category.
The film depicts a community—the metaphorical gazelle—that has fallen under the control of jihadists in the early rise of conflict in Mali. These jihadists set right to work fitting people into the religious restrictions laid out by their interpretation of Islam. Patrolling the city with loudspeakers, they ban music, take balls away from kids, tell the women they must wear socks and gloves at all times—imposing draconian rules on the community.
Our protagonists are members of a family who, unlike most of their neighbors, have not fled Timbuktu, despite the imposition of jihadist law. Kidane (Ibrahim Ahmed) and Satima (Toulou Kiki) live fairly simple lives. They are parents to a 12-year-old daughter Toya (Layla Walet Mohamed) and guardians to an orphaned boy, Issan (Mehdi A.G. Mohamed). They live in a modest tent and have eight cows, which Issan gladly tends. When a nearby fisherman kills Kidane’s favorite cow, Kidane angrily makes a mistake that upturns the entire family’s life.
But “Timbuktu” doesn’t give a one-sided, stereotypical look at jihadism. In fact, right from the start, it divulges a personal side that the media tend to skip over. Though the film makes remittent use of humor to portray the ridiculous antics of the jihadists, they are first and foremost portrayed simply as people.
The antagonist of the story is Abdelkerim (played by Abel Jafri), a leader whose only goal is to fulfill Islamic law. Though the outcomes of many of his decisions seem cruel and cold (such as stoning and flogging as punishments), he gives the outward appearance of a gentle, pious man. He just wants people to follow Islam.
“What do you know about inner strength and good men?” he asks his driver at the beginning of the film. “One has to be a good believer.”
“They are believers,” his driver replies. “This is good enough for me.”
The driver’s words reflect the actions of the surrounding community. This is another point that the film drives home: with restriction comes resistance.
The city of Timbuktu becomes a character itself, its many citizens uniformly rebelling against the grip the jihadists have on their religion and lifestyle. The children cannot own a ball, so they play football without a football. A woman gets 40 lashes for making music, so she sings as she receives her punishment. There is even an early scene in which an imam lectures the jihadists about not truly having their faith in mind.
Every second of this film is intentional and gorgeous. The cinematography, crafted by the same cinematographer of “Blue Is The Warmest Color” (Sofian El Fani), is stunning and continually adds emotional weight to the scenes. And though the majority of the cast has no prior film experience, their performances deftly bring a story of such quintessential humanity to life. It’s a refreshing film to watch in a world so riddled with prejudice and stigma against people unlike ourselves.
“Timbuktu” will be playing at the Midtown Cinema. I highly recommend that you check it out.
Midtown Cinema: March Events
Digital Classic Theatre Series
“The Tempest” w/Christopher Plummer
Sunday, March 1, 4pm & Tuesday, March 3, 7pm
Stratford Festival’s “King Lear”
Sunday, March 8, 4pm & Tuesday, March 10, 7pm
Royal Shakespeare Company’s “Love’s Labour’s Lost”
Sunday, March 15, 4pm & Tuesday, March 17, 7pm
Classic Film Series
“Battleship Potemkin”
Sergei Eisenstein’s 1925 silent film
Sunday, March 8, 6pm
Down in Front!
Improv crew skewers
“Zaat!” (1971) BYOB
Friday, March 13, 9:30ish
Saturday Morning Cartoons
March 14, 9:30-11:30am
Mommy & Me Matinees
Early matinees every second Saturday!
Saturday, March 14
Family Film Series
“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”
Saturday, March 14, noon
Sunday, March 15, 2pm
Tuesday, March 17, 7pm
3rd in The Burg $3 Movie
“Clue” (1985)
Friday, March 20, 9:30ish BYOB
Costume & Mrs. White Impression Contest
MOVIATE Presents
“Morris County” (a horror film screening)
Sunday, March 22, 7:30pm
Meet filmmaker Matt Garrett
Digital Contemporary Theatre Series
“From Here to Eternity: The Musical”
Sunday, March 29, 4pm & Tuesday, March 31, 7pm
