Bamako | 
| Actors: Danny Glover, Jean-Henri Roger, Elia Suleiman, Aïssa Maïga, Hélène Diarra
Studio: New Yorker Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $23.21
as of 3/19/2010 13:43 EDT details
You Save: $6.74 (23%)
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Seller: vinylsoundsbetter
Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 55620
Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Surround Sound, Widescreen
Language: French (Original Language)
Rating: Unrated
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 117 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: D109708D
UPC: 717119109745
EAN: 0717119109745
ASIN: B0011VIOAA
Theatrical Release Date: 2006
Release Date: April 15, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
An extraordinary trial is taking place in a residential courtyard in Bamako, the capital city of Mali. African citizens have taken proceedings against such international financial institutions as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), whom civil society blames for perpetuating Africa's debt crisis, at the heart of so many of the continent's woes. As numerous trial witnesses (schoolteachers, farmers, writers, etc.) air bracing indictments against the global economic machinery that haunts them, life in the courtyard presses forward. Melé, a lounge singer, and her unemployed husband Chaka are on the verge of breaking up; a security guard's gun goes missing; a young man lies ill; a wedding procession passes through; and women keep everything rolling - dyeing fabric, minding children, spinning cotton, and speaking their minds. Written and directed by the celebrated filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako (Waiting for Happiness) and co-executive produced by Danny Glover (who also provides a cameo in the film), this critically acclaimed political drama - filled with a lush mix of warm colors and impassioned music - offers a unique opportunity for audiences to become familiar with contemporary Africa. Sissako, who grew up in the courtyard that the film is set in, hired professional lawyers and judges along with "witnesses" to express their true feelings. Bamako voices Africa's grievances in an original and profoundly moving way. Director Ken Russell declared Bamako to be a "revolutionary lesson in contemporary film-making." The Observer's Philip French listed Bamako among his top 50 films of the past 5 decades. Andrew O'Hehir of Salon.com, who named the film as his number one film of 2007, deemed the film a "fearless high-wire act, grim and witty, confrontational and self-mocking." A.O. Scott of The New York Times stated that he's "never seen a film quite like 'Bamako'... a work of cool intelligence and profound anger... necessary viewing." Special Features:
- Interviews with: director Abderrahmane Sissako, executive producer / actor Danny Glover, Yao Graham (Third World Network Africa) and Gita Sen (Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era)
- Harry Belafonte: clip from NY Film Festival panel
- Theatrical trailer
- Dolby Digital 5.1
- Enhanced for 16x9 TVs
- Optional English subtitles
- Scene Selections
- Essays by Aminata Traoré and Mahmood Mamdani
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 6
Bamako December 24, 2009
D. Williams (Oakland,Calif)
This movie was entertaining and informative. It was a peek at another culture. Anyone who is interested in the role being played by the world bank in third world countries should see Bamako and Life + debt.
The movie is not readily available at a standard price and may be out of print.
Thought Provoking September 16, 2009
Assinie (W. Africa)
The film narrates something important in a very original way. It is not fast but makes one reflect.
 Movie worth watching May 24, 2009
Codrin Stefan Arsene (Chicago, Il. USA)
The Mauritian writer-director Abderrahmane Sissako brings us a powerful yet difficult to grasp with and appreciate drama following the fictional mock trial in which the World Bank and the African people are facing each other in court in an attempt to clear up Africa's record and blame the perpetrators. Of course, the two opponent forces have very different ideas and they use statistics to support their arguments in a powerful and inspiring way. Most of the action happens in a court of law which in the movie is nothing else but the backyard of a house in Bamako, the capital of Burkina Faso. The plot is full of ridiculousness as well adorned lawyers and judges (with black ropes, microphones and their rulings) are set to perform just next to noisy chicken, goats and cows.
To read the full review or get a list of recommended African movies visit:
http://codrinarsene.com/2009/05/bamako/
 Didacticism run amok February 23, 2009
Roland E. Zwick (Valencia, Ca USA)
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
Abderrahmane Sissako may have known what he was doing when he made "Bamako," but the rest of us can just sit back in mystification and confusion trying our best to figure out what that purpose might have been.
The nominal "plot" involves a young African singer who's planning on leaving her unemployed husband to find work in the city. But far more of the screen time is taken up with what the publicists for the film describe as "a mock trial against key financial institutions" dealing "with the overwhelming economic hardships of Africa." That's all well and good, I suppose, but when the arguments and ideas are put forth in as undramatic and pedantic a way as they are here, they lose both force and impact. Put another way, if the director had found the means to actually incorporate issues such as the injurious effect of colonialism on the African people and the problem of African debt into anything even remotely resembling a compelling storyline, the film might have achieved the intellectual and emotional resonance it now so clearly lacks.
The topics the movie is dealing with may be relevant and important, but trying to pass off what amounts to two hours worth of speechifying as an actual, honest-to-God movie is not likely to garner much of an audience for one's message.
Globalization??? July 19, 2008
Andy Hanson (Aspen, Colorado USA)
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
I waited for two years to order and then see this dvd. The wait was well worth it because it is such a primer to the subject that you hear about so much vis a vie Africa. Watching this mock trial on Globalization and its local impact is a lesson that we need to learn. I recommend this dvd to schools and teachers everywhere who are trying to get kids to understand the impact on the world of the World Bank, the IMF and all the other problems that we as Westerners have imposed on the Third World. This is a fascinating look at this problem and it is very well done. I Highly recommend this film.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 6
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