TIFF Report: Les Saignantes Review

its called blatant TOKENISM and if a film came from TIMBUKTOO expect to see it in the fest. I walked out under 7mins - twas enuff to see it was rancid and should never have been in the festival. would love to ask the programmer their rationale? are they into scat?

I have never wanted so desperately to walk out of a film.
Unfortunately I didn't. I thought, perhaps, that there was some well thought out plan for the film. That I was missing the perspective required to appreciate this expresion of one man's something.

I even stayed for the Q&A after the film to hear the director speak. What I learned from the director's comments was that his main characters--as women, were merely a mouth and a body.

He said it was an expression of what his perceptions of Cameroon were. There was a native of Cameroon who stated that she really appreciated the film because it was how she too saw Cameroon. So someone appreciated it.



I shudder at the prospect of watching any other film by this man.

I don't think I have the words to describe how bad this film was. Put it this way: about twenty minutes in, realizing that I was trapped in the middle of the row, I *willed myself to go to sleep so that the time would pass more quickly*. I couldn't believe such an amateurish piece made it to the internationally-renowned TIFF. The production values mirrored those of bad 70s-era BBC sci-fi television shows. From the end of the opening credits to the end of the closing credits, the editing was appalling. I think at times the director was intentionally using jump-cuts to create a sense of disorientation, but I can't be sure, since at certain times it simply looked like he was re-doing a take and not bothering to edit to a different POV to cover it up. The laughable acting, which might have been forgivable in a work by high-school film students, was hardly helped by a screenplay that left the audience incredulously trying to sort out what the hell had happened and how the hell we'd gotten to where we were. The best (worst?) bit was the kung-fu/go-go-dancing climactic scene in which the two female protagonists overcame the Minister of State by invoking some kind of primal female life-force. This was, bar none, the worst movie I have ever seen. On the People's Choice ballot, I gave it a 1 out of 5. I was not the only one, by a long shot. If there had been negative numbers, I'm sure people would have gladly voted to take points away from their total score. I couldn't believe there were still people left in the theatre at the end -- perhaps, like me, they were hoping that the Q&A would clear up their bewilderment. However, it turned out that the director was as inarticulate with words as he was with film.

Not a total loss, though -- on the walk from the Elgin to the Cumberland I stopped on Yonge and bought some groovy winter boots.

Horrible.....F.

Worst film ever...

I knew in the opening credits that the film had problems, as the music ended long before the credits did, the words hung far too long in silence as we waited for this complete waste of time known as "Les Saignantes" to begin. The opening swing scene had some promise but it was too long, things just got worse from there, particularly when you noticed it was shot on what looked like VHS tape.

I went to see this film because I thought it would be interesting to see Africa in the year 2025, well lets see they have the same technology as today (like video cell phones - already out in Japan), only it looks fake on film. The 90's era Mercedes 300 the girls drove around in (which would have been roughly 30+ years old) was so fancy it was voice activated, but could be fooled by any hooker with a low voice.

Lots of stupid male fantasy scenes, I think someone involved in this film likes rape and peeing since the first was alluded to several times and we are shown a close up of a woman relieving herself standing upright in a parking lot. Someone must have said to themselves "Hmm, I have always wanted to see that actress pee why don't I write that scene into a movie?"

I did not stay for the whole movie, I can't decide whether I admire anyone who did or just think they're foolish and or masochistic.

The only reason I didn't walk out of this film was because the director was sitting in my row. That didn't seem to stop two or three other people next to me (and that's a lot, considering the other half of the row was occupied by the director and his cronies). Awful, awful, dreadful. And I have NEVER even CONSIDERED walking out of a film at the festival before, no matter how bad it was.

EVERYBODY:

Take a deep breath and chill........... First of all, you people all need to get over your non-sensical arrogant airs of film connoisseurs and admit that anyone walking out of a film before its end has little right to make judgements and critiques about its worth. If watching a legitimate fantasy by an African director of his country in the year 2025 proves such a painful viewing experience to so many of you, perhaps the problem is not with the quality of the film, but with your very little and superficial knowledge of the issues this film is trying to address: the decay, corruption and absolute wretchedness of certain political systems in Africa. How many of you know anything about Cameroon, its history and current political situation? Not many, I bet. And that's okay, but then don't come here on your high horses talking nonsense about a film that yes, is being screened at the Toronto Film Festival, but hello! and reality check: is not really meant for you, dear Toronto goers, but for the disenfranchised, unemployed, prostituted, abused and ignored millions of people living today in conditions of abject poverty on the African continent. And if you have issues and problems with the quality of the film, the technology it uses and everything else you bring up, then do me a favor and think about the arrogance of that statement for just one second. Why should you, spoiled audiences of the industrialized world, be indulged with best quality films by directors from so-called non-industrialized countries? On what account should such directors even strive to stay competitive with the latest technological advances that cost millions of dollars and are well beyond their reach when the majority of people in their countries are hardly making ends meet? So what that "Les Saignantes" has technical problems? So what that the set design does not conform to your vision of a 2025 Cameroon (who are you to have one? do you even have an idea of what today's Cameroon looks like?!)? So what that the acting is not to your expectations and that the image of a peeing woman seems gratuitous to you? The fact is that one of these days you will wake up in the year 2025 and realize that you have all missed on the most important thing about this film: whether you like it or not, this is a ground-breaking film for African cinema and will remain in its history as well as the history of world cinema in general long after all of you, ignorant and sad bloggers, are done blabbing idiocies on its account.

So get over it and go get yourselves laid. Or does that sound too disturbing to your delicate ears?

;-) La Saignante.

Us 'sad bloggers' run this website, and have just as much a right to post our opinions of a film as you do to critique us. Understand that this website is primarily directed at 'spoiled audiences of the industrialized world' who may not have the context to put the film into completely, and have certain standards with which films we like have to adhere to (but these can also be bent for certain films). And, this was playing at an international film festival, not in Cameroon, so our reaction is certainly valid.

Sorry if it didn't meet with your approval. And thanks for posting.

La Saignante:

Do I live in Cameroon? No, but I don't live in Denmark, Spain, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Hungary, Poland, Germany, etc etc etc either but that doesn't prevent me from being able to tell the difference between a well made film and a poorly made one. Do I grasp all of the political implications of every film from a foreign culture? No, of course not, and I've never claimed to. This film, however, is simply very poorly made. There's no way around it. It is very poorly shot, acted, scripted and edited. I have heard Les Saignantes brought up in conversation MANY times around different press and industry screenings and the reaction has always been the same, nobody is saying anything positive about it.

I'm all for supporting emerging film cultures. Take a look around the site and that should be glaringly obvious. We spend far more time on non-US film here than we do on Hollywood product. We love film from around the world and go out of our way to support it, but the fact is that taking a film this poorly crafted out into the world does NOTHING to support the film culture it comes from, all it does is tell people around the world that Cameroon makes very poor films. The only way this film breaks ground is if it is the first feature film to be made in Cameroon, which it is not. On a technical level, on a story level and on a satiric level it does nothing new whatsoever and what it does do it does poorly. I stand by absolutely every word.

Hi, Todd,

Just for the record and to make sure that you really know what you are talking about, what is "the first feature film to be made in Cameroon"? Enlighten the masses, why don't you? Share the knowledge!

Oops, did I give you a little homework, darling?

That's okay, you know how it goes, what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.

Now go dig through the history of Cameroonian cinema and let us all know what you find...

;-) La Saignante

No idea what would be the first out of Cameroon but Bekolo's done at least two features prior to this one, which makes my point. I've heard people say that Aristotle's Plot, at least, is very good ...

Some questions: Why do the defenders of this film all assume that its critics are attacking it based on storyline or racial/political/sociopolitical criteria? And why is their tone so holier-than-thou in talking about Africa? And why are they all assuming that the people who dislike this film must obviously be culturally narrow-minded?

Check out the ridiculous ad-hominem attacks against this other blogger (link below). The overly defensive critics of the reviewer assume -- like La Saignante does here -- that his criticisms come from not understanding Cameroon. Fine, maybe he doesn't. But he also, like us, doesn't understand how he managed to sit so long through a movie that was made so badly, and doesn't understand how a film that may very well have passed muster on a local scale made it to an international film fest.

I think both websites' reviews are right on the money, along with most of the comments by people who further pointed out the problems with the actual *filmmaking*.

http://www.blogto.com/toronto_film_festival_2005/2005/09/les_saignantes_at_tiff/

Oh, and first film out of Cameroon? According to IMDb, that would be "Une nation est nee" (1970), a documentary. (http://www.imdb.com/List?tv=on&&countries=Cameroon&&nav=/Sections/Countries/Cameroon/include-titles&&heading=8;All;Cameroon)
According to All Movie Guide, it's "Kein Auskommen Mit Dem Einkommen" (1957) -- does it count if the filmmaker was actually German rather than African? (http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=24:D|||365)

First film by Bekolo: "Quartier Mozart" (1992).

That wasn't so hard. Still doesn't really explain what Cameroon is hoping to achieve by fielding a badly-made film to represent the abilities of its artists to the world.

I think the criticism has alot of do with racial and cultural issues. There is nothing in this world that can be seperated from race and culture. Your perception and ideas on both colour the way you see the world, art, film, even fashion. You want to be shown things that are familiar, safe and reliable. BUt thaty isn't life. And that isn't the life that artist and true filmmakers want to present. There needs to be people pushing boundaries, showing us new styles, new stories, new outlooks on life. If there have been films by an American, Canadian, French directors that were poor in plot, construction, acting and were just plain horrible, but you wouldn't hear this rabid attack by you spoiled and closed-minded cinephiles. That's because the way you see the film is through your cultural blinders. You are mere horses being directed in the way that the trite, predictable, and mass-produced film industry of the world want to see you go.

If you are such great cinephiles who expect the world of filmmakers to bow down to your demands of filmic style and construction, then i think you need to just get over yourself. Bunuel would tell you to go F*@K yourself, and i would agree. If you look at some of Bunuel's films, they are flawed, there are mistakes in the editing as well as purposeful mistakes in the general construction of the film.

I just think it is sad that this great film has been wasted on people like you, who couldn't even grasp the importance of it.

Oh, please. Someone doesn't like your film so they must be racist? Head, ass, remove.

If you want to avoid this sort of criticism in the future, here's a handy primer:

1. Learn to frame a shot.
2. Learn to light a shot.
3. Take lessons in editing.
4. Learn to time your music and audio cues so that they line up to what is occuring on screen.

I have no issues with the politics of the film, in fact I was hoping for more along that line. I enjoy satire. I enjoy being challenged. The problem isn't the "culture" the problem is that on every basic technical level, all of the purely physical and skill based elements that go into making a film, this film fails HORRIBLY.

Is it harder to make a film in Cameroon than here in Canada? Sure it is, of course. But there are plenty of poorer countries than mine, loaded with histories of corruption and decay every bit as long as Cameroon's that make *gasp* good films, plenty of film makers from those countries that grasp the basic technical skills required to make a film.

Frankly it doesn't matter how "important" what you have to say is if you can't make yourself understood, and when it comes to the language of film this film can barely even spit out an intelligible phrase, never mind a complete sentence. I can't even HEAR the message when it's presented this poorly. It's incoherent, not because I'm a racist or because I don't understand the culture but because the film itself is a horrible mess from start to finish. If it is so "important" than you'd think it would be "important" enough to do well. This is a shambles and if I were you and had such an obvious personal connection to the issues being raised then I'd be pretty damn pissed off that the person who decided to take this issues public did such a damn poor job of it.