The thick border separating realism from surrealism is thinned down evermore in each scene of this gem of a drama. Anarchic, exhilerating, and playful, Touki Bouki takes its viewers on a unique and memorable journey despite the occasional boring or overlong sequence having the power to, every now and then, bring the movie's high quality down a few notches. However, boredom is really subjective, and I still remained at least somewhat engaged in the film's characters, ideas, story, cinematography, and overall artistry even when the scene I was watching felt dragged out.
The film is unlike most others, both style and story wise. Not too much really happens in the film, and the conclusion is somber, off putting, and strange in a way that recalls almost nothing else's I have ever seen. It mixes many different feelings and genres and textures and so on and so forth, the main characters are both lovers, but they never have a romantic scene together, they just sort of hang out and interact in a very real and enjoyable way. The film can be interpreted as a dark tragedy, but comedy lurks in almost every corner, and even reaches its high point during what may be the most intense scene in the film! There are moments involving interesting cultural traditions that allow non-Africans like myself to get a unique glimpse into this foreign society, joyous scenes of song and dance, anarchic avant gardism, ingredients of a prettily poetic pop, humor that hangs both high and low brow, surrealistic twists, mindbending editing decisions, many sequences directly inspired by French New Wave Cinema (Jean-Luc Godard in particular), and plenty more! And the film is barely even ninety minutes long, the plot is ridiculously simple, and the scale is mostly minuscule.
The film is unlike most others, both style and story wise. Not too much really happens in the film, and the conclusion is somber, off putting, and strange in a way that recalls almost nothing else's I have ever seen. It mixes many different feelings and genres and textures and so on and so forth, the main characters are both lovers, but they never have a romantic scene together, they just sort of hang out and interact in a very real and enjoyable way. The film can be interpreted as a dark tragedy, but comedy lurks in almost every corner, and even reaches its high point during what may be the most intense scene in the film! There are moments involving interesting cultural traditions that allow non-Africans like myself to get a unique glimpse into this foreign society, joyous scenes of song and dance, anarchic avant gardism, ingredients of a prettily poetic pop, humor that hangs both high and low brow, surrealistic twists, mindbending editing decisions, many sequences directly inspired by French New Wave Cinema (Jean-Luc Godard in particular), and plenty more! And the film is barely even ninety minutes long, the plot is ridiculously simple, and the scale is mostly minuscule.