Thanks for the memories!

not horrible nor great

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I found this Malian fantasy drama in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, I knew nothing about it prior to reading about it, but critics gave it positive feedback, so I hoped for something enjoyable. Basically a young man named has been marked for death by his long-absent father, an evil sorcerer. The boy says goodbye to his mother and goes into exile, heading for the hills, where he learns the power and value of the magical gifts he will need to succeed in his struggles. He is journeying to find his uncle, a kind man who will be able to assist him in searching for his father. Along the way, the boy also utilises his own conjuring skills to benefit those less fortunate than himself, this includes saving a king from being removed from his throne. Starring Nianankoro Issiaka as Kane, Aova Sangere as Attu, Niamanto Sanogo as Soma and Balla Moussa Keita as Peul King. It is a very simple film, it seems to be much more about the landscapes and Komo rituals, I could only just find some kind of plot going on, there was only a little dialogue, and I guess I can see why critics describe it as "haunting", a fairly interesting fantasy drama. Worth watching, at least once!

. . . who was portrayed in the docudrama THE LAST KING OF SC0TLAND. When a favored aide makes love to Amin's youngest wife in his biopic, the outraged husband has her filleted--literally. When YEELEN's 13th Century King Rouma Boll suffers the same loss of face at the hams of HIS junior consort, Attou, he merely exiles her with the seducing royal aide, journeyman wizard Niankoro. Which is a shortcut to understanding that the film YEELEN is much more similar to a HARY POTTER flick than it is to the "House of Blood" horror genre films that SC0TLAND, THE BANGBANG CLUB, WINNIE MANDALA and many other features set in a more contemporary Africa portray. Though the white subtitles used here are NOT very legible during the brighter daylight scenes, this movie is visual enough that you don't miss much from this technical snafu.

Its director, Souleymane Cissé, from Mali in West Africa, has expressed his desire to make films which are uniquely African in style rather than imitating those of the United Sates or Europe… To this end he relies on stories, true and mythical, told by old men and handed down through the generations… A young warrior (Issiaka Kane), threatened with death by his evil sorcerer father (Niamanto Sanogo), goes on a journey where he learns the power of magic… The film inhabits a world of dreams, but not the kind described by Dr Freud… However, the movie's basis in a mystical tradition does not render it inaccessible to Western audiences… The structure of the narrative, based on a quest for magical knowledge and power, is clear and firm, and the consistent pattern of imagery based on the elements of fire, water, earth and light (the title translates as 'brightness') is not specific to African culture… The film's use of landscape, yellow spaces of the desert, is one of its chief glories… The performers too have great charm

If absolutely nothing else, "Yeelen" offers a look at a society that we in the west don't often get to see. In this case, it's the Bambara people of Mali; the movie also includes the Dogon and Fulani. Having taken a sociology-anthropology class, I already knew about them. The plot centers on a warrior having to battle an evil sorcerer who is also his father.I should identify that this is not a movie for people with short attention spans: the action moves along very slowly. But don't worry. Despite how it takes a long time for everything to happen, you feel like you've gotten a lot out of the movie. Above all, I like to see how Africans view themselves as opposed to how we in the west view them. So I certainly recommend this movie.