The Swedish Family in African Realities And knives flew and
Packs of reproaches,
And they got lost in a lie.
Of course, in the case of this short film from an exotic African country (although it is one of the leading African countries in the field of cinematography), it is much faster to see it than to read this review, but still, it is very difficult to see it.
Every year since the first international film festival was held in Jeonju, South Korea, the organizers of the festival select three filmmakers and allocate them 50 million Korean won (about 45 thousand dollars in equivalent) for the creation of short digital films. There are no special requirements for the plot or genre of the film. The film “Birthday” is one of three filmed as part of this project in 2008.
Idrissa Ouedraogo, by the way, is not the last person in the film business. His film “Law”, let me remind you, won the Grand Prix of the Cannes Film Festival in 1990. He managed to learn art almost all over the world, once even interned in VGIK. The lessons, apparently, were useful, because already the first work of Ouedraogo received FIPRESCI. But, fed up with awards for films about African rural life, the director has moved away from a more dynamic narrative.
The name of Burkina Faso means “homeland of honest people”. However, none of the three characters of the picture fits this definition. Honestly, from the very beginning, when we are shown a rather boring birthday party with the participation of his wife, her husband and her lover (only a cook is not enough to complete the picture). Also, the love between Jeta and her hahal does not stand up to the test of experience, stumbling on empty superstition. All this mix of feelings, recriminations, and mystical elements is in perfect harmony with the face of Africa as I see it, although there is something Spanish-Almodovarovian about it.
Since the picture is very chamber (the action moves between three rooms and a corridor), from the bright African color here is only accented colonial French and colorful clothes. To get to know Uedraogo better, you need to watch his full-length films, including festival ones, but as a first experience, “Birthday” will come down. Twelve minutes is not worth regretting, even if the picture does not like.