Bamako

Name: Bamako
Genre: Drama
Released: February 14, 2007
Duration: 115 min
Rating: 81

2007

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 18 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 10 Ratings

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6.4

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6.4	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 10 Ratings

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Bamako

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Movie Details & Credits

New Yorker Films | Release Date: February 14, 2007

Summary: Set in the courtyard of house in Bamako, the capital city of Mali, this film features a mock trial between representatives of African society and international financial institutions. Alongside these very public political proceedings, the film offers an intimate glimpse of everyday life in contemporary Africa.

Director: Abderrahmane Sissako

Genre(s): Drama

Runtime: 115 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Lisa Schwarzbaum

The serious accusations are leavened by the moments of brimming, illogical, intimate neighborly dailiness the filmmaker also captures with warmth and infectious high spirits. Read full review

100

Jonathan Rosenbaum

One reason Bamako feels like a blast of sanity is that the theoretical debates about the state of the world, particularly Africa and more particularly Mali, are only half of its agenda. The other half, broadly speaking, is the life of everyday Africans. Read full review

Michael Phillips

Sissako has an unusual camera eye, patient and alert to the ebb and flow of both the courtroom sequences and the outside scenes. The music is wonderful as well. Read full review

Stanley Kauffmann

Sissako makes his point: Africa's best treasure is its humanity. Read full review

Marjorie Baumgarten

Bamako, with Sissako's poetic blend of the humdrum and the theoretical, is altogether fascinating. Dramatic features born and bred on the African continent are rare commodities on these shores, and the opportunities they offer can stretch far beyond film appreciation and into the realm of world understanding. Read full review

Elizabeth Weitzman

Heated speeches about the International Monetary Fund, debt relief and global responsibility may not sound like your idea of Friday-night entertainment, but Sissako makes a strong case. Read full review

Scott Tobias

The film feels oddly slack and inert, livened only by testimony better suited to another forum. Read full review

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User Reviews

ChristosT.

Mar 4, 2007

Four friends went to see this film together. Two walked out after twenty minutes because they had a bit too much to rink. The two of us that stayed thought it was sublime. This is a courtroom drama that is cinematic rather than theatrical, and for that reason probably "difficult" for my Four friends went to see this film together. Two walked out after twenty minutes because they had a bit too much to rink. The two of us that stayed thought it was sublime. This is a courtroom drama that is cinematic rather than theatrical, and for that reason probably "difficult" for my generation, raised on Law and Order Sexual Titillation Unit. It is also probing, intelligent, moving, confronting and formally exhilarating.… Expand

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AndrewB.

Mar 10, 2007

Way too much filler. Too many scenes of people doing laundry and walking around. I did really appreciate the moments when they focused on the courtroom arguments. For me, that was the only really important part of this movie. The rest of it was repetititve, dull, and almost provocatively Way too much filler. Too many scenes of people doing laundry and walking around. I did really appreciate the moments when they focused on the courtroom arguments. For me, that was the only really important part of this movie. The rest of it was repetititve, dull, and almost provocatively boring. I would have rather just seen the courtroom action and hear the arguments summed up in about half an hour. The rest was slow torture.… Expand

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KenG

Mar 15, 2007

Movie has something worthwhile to say, but it says it in a way that is tedious. This only comes to life a couple of times, late in the movie, with a cuple of passionate speeches. The message and lessons of this movie, probably could have been better served in a doctumentary.

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