GUELWAAR Movie Review

The most recent masterwork from Senegal's great Ousmane Sembène is a stinging, potent comedy focusing on the unexplained circumstances surrounding the death of a local political dealmaker, a man who was also an unapologetic philanderer, the self-proclaimed moral anchor of the community, and was so widely admired that he was referred to respectfully as “Guelwaar,” or “Noble One.” The mysterious goings-on don't end with Guelwaar's death; his body vanishes as well, but that little detail is soon explained. It seems that Guelwaar, a Christian, has been buried in a Muslim cemetery by mistake. Almost instantaneously a bureaucratic nightmare kicks into high gear, resulting in an anxious and near-surrealistic standoff at the unintended grave site. Still, that's just the beginning of an extraordinarily witty fable about corruption and colonialist politics, related by master storyteller Sembène with his characteristic blend of comedy, political allegory, social satire, insight, and deeply compassionate humanity.

NEXT STOP… Emitai, Xala, Ceddo

1994 115m/C D: Ousmane Sembene; M: Baaba Maal. VHS NYR