Mandabi (The Money Order)

Director: Ousmane Sembène
Starring: Makhouredia Gueye, Ynousse N’Diaye, Issa Niang
Runtime: 92'
Year of Production: 1968
Language: French
Subtitles: Greek

Martin Scorsese had stated that his relationship with African cinema began with «Mandabi». Which may not be Sembène's best film (or maybe it is), but regardless is the ideal point to «disembark» into a vast and fascinating film continent, which despite retrospectives and re-releases remains unseen by the general public. Here the director tells the story of an unemployed middle-aged man who receives in the post a cheque of considerable value from a nephew of his in Paris. This is the beginning of a (micro)urban odyssey, filled with the difficulties of bureaucracy and the hang-ups of an immature post-colonial society. Adapting his own namesake novel, Sembène comes into a head-on collision with the conservative institutions. At the same time, he manifests his revolutionary curse by having his heroes speak in Wolof (instead of the official French language) and fishing for human values while he attacks the status quo. He directs with precision, austerity and enviable efficiency a tragicomedy that captures in absolute detail the colourful chaos of a class purgatory eroded by the concept of money. «Mandabi» stands to this day as a beautiful film in its simplicity. However, it also still seems like a warning hidden in the moral lessons of a realistic fairy tale. Thodoris Karamanolis