Hawa Essuman 2010 Kenya
Starring: Samson Odhiambo, Leila Dayan Opou, Krysteen Savane, Frank Kimani, Joab Ogolla, Lucy Gachanja, Katherine Damaris, Siobhain 'Ginger' Wilson
Regular readers may have noticed that in recent weeks posts by me have been few and far between, and that I haven't really been giving the blog the attention it perhaps deserves. For that I can only apologise, life has increasingly got in the way with bereavement, work, family obligations and a few other things besides taking precedence. I've still been watching films here and there and taking notes but haven't found the time to write them up and make them into any sort of pleasantly readable form. Coincidentally The Africa Channel, whose random late-night screening of the Chadian/French production Sex, Okra & Salted Butter I reviewed a few months back and enjoyed very much, are also returning from a period of inactivity (about nine weeks all in all in which they disappeared from Sky TV entirely with no sensible reason ever given). Earlier this week, maybe to mark the network's return, they caught my interest again by showing the less interestingly titled but similarly excellent Kenyan film Soul Boy at a quarter to one in the morning. Stylishly but simply shot in one of the worst slums in Nairobi the narrative follows Abi, just into his teenage years and with a day-to-day life seemingly free of much in the way of schooling. He helps out in his father's shop, has dreams where he lays in a frame of stones staring at the sky only to suddenly be crushed by an unseen metallic assailant and has a plausible love-interest, Shiku, who is derided by young men, market traders and drunks alike, both because she is a girl and because she hails from the Kikuyu people of East Kenya (Kikuyu being the Swahili form of the native pronunciation Gĩkũyũ, group members call themselves Agĩkũyũ, literally 'children of the huge sycamore'). One day things are not as they usually are and Abi wakes up to find his father delirious, immobile and claiming that his soul has been stolen. Struggling to deal with the situation he's found himself in Abi does the only natural thing he can do, namely to go outside the slum to try and retrieve it. On visiting his mother, already up and at her job in a grotty factory, he's laughed at and sarcastically told that his father "lost his soul years ago" but he remains concerned and, after bribing a former employee of his father, is told tales of devils and curses as he lights the man's cigarette, both naïve and somehow world-weary The twist however is that this isn't a likeable Majid Majidi film and Abi isn't a sweet child too young to grasp the true implications of the situation he's in. In fact the suggestion is that the father is actually suffering from the ailment he speaks of and he really has been relieved of his soul by Nyawawa, a sorceress of local folklore who seeks vengeance against cheating men on behalf of wronged women who can't fight back. She doesn't lure her victims, they come of their own free will, and her rituals involve spreading a cow's legs to find their power. She only appears once, played with effective eeriness by the debuting Krysteen Savane in near darkness in a crumbling tin hut, challenging Abi to be a better man than his father can and take on ten trials as a cure, the last of which entails "confronting the monstrous snake". The sound effects thrown in add nothing but it isn't difficult to read the allegory of the accepted sexual and gender role of women in such a society. Abi's journey, with Shiku helping him out as The Fool assists King Lear, takes in mock debates with the teens playing the role of adults, a trip to the home of a rich white family (one of whom is played pretty badly by one of the producers, Siobhain 'Ginger' Wilson) and even a walk through the shanty town he calls home, disregarding a slaughtered body on the street as he goes, unmoved even as a horrified yet clearly thrilled band of rubberneckers crowd the corpse. There's a lot to take in and an awful lot to love about the film, created as a co-production between a team led by German jack-of-all-trades Tom Tykwer and any untrained locals who wanted to take part. Lead actor Samson Odhiambo gives an assured, believable performance, furrowing his brow like a boy unable to comprehend his circumstances but wanting so badly to understand and never flickering in his affection and concern for his father. His opposite number Leila Dayan Opou meanwhile balances the feistiness of her character confidently without growing irritating. The writing by the apparently underemployed Billy Kahora is also impressive, skilfully bringing together several narrative strands taking in several important topics without allowing the sentiment to become cloying and his story to descend into a cheap morality tale. The final scenes may take place in a church but, while religion is still presented as a valid part of everyday life, there's an impression that sometimes there are other forces, both mortal and divine, at work in the world and sometimes they're necessary. At times the production may be basic but it's also a wonderful watch with a collection of well placed messages. To those responsible and the Africa Channel I can only say that I want more and hopefully so will many others.
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