Eighty kilometers of road for a cup of tea In the minds of most of us, the word Sahara evokes quite certain landscape associations and a whole kaleidoscope of various stereotypes from ignorance of the issue. Camel caravans do cross it daily, people live in clay houses, but one of the most famous places in the world can offer much more interesting for people passionate about traveling and exploring the world. In my case, the four-hour episodes sparked a frenzied curiosity not only about what was happening on the screen, but also about the diversity that was left behind. Very few of the spectators will ever visit the African continent, but that does not diminish the interest it deserves.
Among the variety of formats of travel documentaries, in this case we are talking about an individual adventure. The famous British comedian Michael Palin, for obvious reasons, moves everywhere with an operator, and often with a security escort, but the essence of the word is individual here that almost a hundred days of the journey we perceive through a specific narrator. To paraphrase a well-known expression, a significant share of emotions is tied to the main character. He tries to communicate openly with fellow travelers, constantly jokes, sometimes shadowing not too safe or comfortable environment. In addition, some of the guiding points on the route are familiar to the traveler, including through the prism of the actor’s career. It’s not hard to imagine anyone else, but with Palin it’s really fun to spend time on different sides of the screen. At the time of filming, he had already made several dizzying trips, including between the two poles, around the world and wrote a number of books based on them.
The route starts from Gibraltar and covers visits to countries such as Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Niger, Libya, Tunisia and Algeria. For 97 days, Palin uses various modes of transport: train, bus, car, ferry, camels and his own legs. Its itinerary departs from tourist roads and shows Africa from a different, more natural, angle. Disputed militarized territories, migration problems, danger from extremist groups, vast distances, peculiar food. The narrator does not avoid difficulties, which causes genuine interest in what is happening on the screen. At some point, you catch yourself thinking that four hours of final editing is not enough – you want to add more, especially when the journey is coming to an end. In memory there are dinners by the fire, conversations with missionaries, a walk with a guard, an underground city, migrant boats to Europe and much more.
8 out of 10