To the Western world, the mention of "jihad" automatically conjures up images of terrorism, suicide bombers, carnage and chaos. Timbuktu is a story of life under jihadi oppression, but its images are more day-to-day, almost tedious, and not nearly as dramatic.
The film presents a cross-section of people living in and around the beautiful sandy desert dunes in Timbuktu, far from First World civilization. The locals have been there for centuries, but their current police state is almost brand-new.
The story centers on a family living in a tent some distance from the city. The father, Kidane (Ibrahim Ahmed), is a herdsman enjoying a modest existence with his wife, Satima (Toulou Kiki), and his 12-year-old daughter, Toya (Layla Walet Mohamed). Their land borders a river worked by a fisherman named Amadou, and when a misunderstanding with one of Kidanes cattle leads to Amadous accidental death, Kidane must face justice as interpreted by the local Sharia law.
Kidanes family is not the only one dealing with the new local authority. On authority of the jihadis, a daughter is married off to a local young man without her fathers approval. Elsewhere, a couple is arrested for playing music and singing. A woman at a market is harassed because she wont wear gloves while preparing food.
Day in and day out, the jihadi patrol wanders the street, nagging the locals about the various laws and tenets of their religion. Their belief is law, and it is anything but popular. Seeds of doubt are even sown among their own, as a recent recruit struggles to offer a video testimonial about how he has forsaken his love of rap music for a higher law.
The behavior of the actors in Timbuktu is almost mundane, if not comic. To be sure, director and writer Abderrahmane Sissako is anything but sympathetic to the jihadi oppression, but the stumblings of its police force are hardly menacing, instead coming off like the awkward transition of a new local administration.
The area is a dramatic intersection of culture and language. Much time is spent translating back and forth between different local dialects as well as worldwide languages such as English and French. (The entire film is subtitled in English.)
As in other films of this kind, the overlap between Western civilization and ancient practice is fascinating. Characters live in tents and ride camels, then pull out smartphones and look for good reception spots. Jihadi occupiers sit around debating the skills of international futbol stars, and a young man struggles to teach his senior officer how to drive a brand-new Toyota Tundra.
Through it all, the most impressive supporting character is the landscape itself. In one long dramatic take at sunset, a wide-angle shot covering the span of a river frames Amadou as he struggles for life on one shore and Kidane staggers his way to the other side. It is a powerful and simple shot that is horrible and beautiful at the same time.
Timbuktu never overstates its message, but it is very clear in its thesis. The film opens on a shot of jihadis always shown carrying machine guns as they get in some target practice on wooden fertility god statues. The symbolism is impossible to miss as the same kinds of artifacts that highlight archaeological displays are cut down piece by piece to the sound of gunfire.
A comparatively simple story may keep Timbuktu from reaching all-time status in films of its type, but it is still a film worth seeing. It was nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, losing to Ida.
Timbuktu contains some profanity and violent content. It is rated PG-13 for some violence and thematic elements.
The film presents a cross-section of people living in and around the beautiful sandy desert dunes in Timbuktu, far from First World civilization. The locals have been there for centuries, but their current police state is almost brand-new.
The story centers on a family living in a tent some distance from the city. The father, Kidane (Ibrahim Ahmed), is a herdsman enjoying a modest existence with his wife, Satima (Toulou Kiki), and his 12-year-old daughter, Toya (Layla Walet Mohamed). Their land borders a river worked by a fisherman named Amadou, and when a misunderstanding with one of Kidanes cattle leads to Amadous accidental death, Kidane must face justice as interpreted by the local Sharia law.
Kidanes family is not the only one dealing with the new local authority. On authority of the jihadis, a daughter is married off to a local young man without her fathers approval. Elsewhere, a couple is arrested for playing music and singing. A woman at a market is harassed because she wont wear gloves while preparing food.
Day in and day out, the jihadi patrol wanders the street, nagging the locals about the various laws and tenets of their religion. Their belief is law, and it is anything but popular. Seeds of doubt are even sown among their own, as a recent recruit struggles to offer a video testimonial about how he has forsaken his love of rap music for a higher law.
The behavior of the actors in Timbuktu is almost mundane, if not comic. To be sure, director and writer Abderrahmane Sissako is anything but sympathetic to the jihadi oppression, but the stumblings of its police force are hardly menacing, instead coming off like the awkward transition of a new local administration.
The area is a dramatic intersection of culture and language. Much time is spent translating back and forth between different local dialects as well as worldwide languages such as English and French. (The entire film is subtitled in English.)
As in other films of this kind, the overlap between Western civilization and ancient practice is fascinating. Characters live in tents and ride camels, then pull out smartphones and look for good reception spots. Jihadi occupiers sit around debating the skills of international futbol stars, and a young man struggles to teach his senior officer how to drive a brand-new Toyota Tundra.
Through it all, the most impressive supporting character is the landscape itself. In one long dramatic take at sunset, a wide-angle shot covering the span of a river frames Amadou as he struggles for life on one shore and Kidane staggers his way to the other side. It is a powerful and simple shot that is horrible and beautiful at the same time.
Timbuktu never overstates its message, but it is very clear in its thesis. The film opens on a shot of jihadis always shown carrying machine guns as they get in some target practice on wooden fertility god statues. The symbolism is impossible to miss as the same kinds of artifacts that highlight archaeological displays are cut down piece by piece to the sound of gunfire.
A comparatively simple story may keep Timbuktu from reaching all-time status in films of its type, but it is still a film worth seeing. It was nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, losing to Ida.
Timbuktu contains some profanity and violent content. It is rated PG-13 for some violence and thematic elements.
