By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.75 cats
Director: Fanta Régina Nacro
Starring: Adama Ouédraogo | Claude Kaboré | Georgette Paré | Moussa Cissé | Naky Sy Savane | Sami Rama | Yves Thombiano
Original language title: La Nuit de la Vérité
Country: burkina_faso, france
Year: 2006
Running time: 100
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0424318/combined
Bruce says: “The 57 countries of Africa are largely the creation of colonists, Europeans who carved up the continent as they licked their chops over their newfound treasures. Most countries consist of many peoples from many cultures. The people of Africa speak over 2,000 languages. Culture and language spill over borders making the possibility of cultural realignment a remote dream.
“Only four countries of the 57 – Somalia, Botswana, Rwanda and Burundi – have homogenous cultures and share a common language. However, sameness is not enough to keep a country from being torn asunder. In Rwanda two ethnic groups, the Hutus and the Tutsis, have fought a bloody civil war that has taken immense toll. Hundreds of thousands have been killed; the infrastructure of the country has been destroyed; most of the people have lost hope.
“Rwanda is the model for the fictitious country in THE NIGHT OF TRUTH. Director Fanta Régina Nacro claims that images of the war in Yugoslavia, the civil war in Sierra Leone, and the brutal death of her own uncle were great influences for making this film. She makes powerful statements about the quest for power, the insidious craving for war, and the futility of life for those caught in the middle.
“The film opens with the wife of the President making a pilgrimage to her son’s grave. Even a man as powerful as the President could not protect his own son during the civil war between the Nayak and the Bonande. Colonel Theo has invited the President and his entourage of military guards to his compound to make peace between the warring factions.
“The tension of the film is derived from what might happen when the two factions meet to make their peace. The Colonel’s wife does not want armed men in her village where donkey carts sleepily ease their way past walls decorated with graffiti of army tanks, wall that are a constant reminder of war. She knows too well that the men that make peace also make war. To these men war is a game and war is useful. Not surprising, the only women attending the peacemaking meeting are the wives of the two leaders. Once the meeting is underway, the initial hours are focused on a large banquet where delicacies such as snake, crickets and caterpillars are devoured. Edna bides her time until the revenge that she has craftily plotted is executed. War may be a man’s game but women, given the chance, are often complicitous. The film’s conclusion is horrific and shocking.
“Several of the leads are prominent actors but most of the characters are played by non-professionals. The Colonel is one of them and he is brilliant. The men in the military seem real. That is no coincidence; they are recruits from the Burkina Faso military. One unfortunate choice in the script is having a village half wit move the plot along. In countries riddled by civil war, there are enough idiots, none of them simple-minded, to play that role. On second thought, maybe that’s the point. 5 cats”
“THE NIGHT OF TRUTH was shown as part of the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival.”
Chris says: “We’ve seen scores of films about war, but very few that explore reconciliation. Provocative and exhilarating, this one is situated in a fictional West African country following a decade long civil war between two tribes: the wealthy government, and the rebel peasants. The two tribes’ respective male leaders, Le President and Colonel Theo bring their peoples together for a meant-to-be idyllic night-long celebration of peace. However, lingering tensions between the two cultures are blatantly apparent from the very first scene where we meet Edna, Le President’s wife, mourning at the grave of her young son who was brutally, senselessly murdered by the rebel army. As THE NIGHT OF TRUTH reaches its wee hours, the film’s title gains resonance and power as we discern differences in taste, hear of damning accusations from both sides, and see shocking revelations gradually surface. The four leads are all excellent (although I could’ve done without the cartoonish crazy elder peasant man who give the film its only false note). Structured like a Shakespearian tragedy with an astonishing O. Henry twist of an ending, NIGHT OF TRUTH is being distributed in the U.S. as part of the Global Lens 2006 series; with any luck, it (more than Oscar-winner TSOTSI) will become the next African film (after 2004’s MOOLAADE) to find a sizable audience here. 4.5 cats”