Mandabi
by Ousmane Sembene
Our Price: $29.95
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $19.79 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Isseu Niang, Makhouredia Gueye, Serigne N'Diayes, Serigne Sow, Ynousse N'DiayeDirector: Ousmane Sembene
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: French (Original Language); Wolof (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 90 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-05-31
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: New Yorker
DVD Reviews of Mandabi
DVD Review: A stinging satire of life in 1960s Senegal
Summary: 4 Stars
"Mandabi" provides a window in the life and the daily struggles of ordinarily people in Senegal in the years after gaining independence. And it was a hard life.
"Mandabi" is not really a comedy, except in the sense of a comedy of errors or a very dark comedy. It is the heartbreaking story of Ibrahima, a poor, naive man who thinks he has gotten a break when his nephew sends him a money order from Paris, but . . .
Ibrahima can't cash the money order without an ID card.
He can't get an ID card without a birth certificate.
He can't get a birth certificate because he doesn't know his exact birth information.
He struggles to find a solution to his problem, but his solutions make his problem worse.
Ibrahima can't read and doesn't speak French, so he must rely on Westernized or educated Senegalese to help him. But they take advantage of his naivete and ignorance of the system to rob him of the little money he has. Meanwhile, as word of his new-found fortune spreads around his poor neighborhood, everyone he knows comes asking for money, and it is hard for him to say "no."
The product description says that the film is "about a civilization struggling to recapture its own rich heritage after a century of colonial corruption." This is not really an accurate description of the movie. It is more about the venality, corruption, difficulty, and meanness of life in Senegal in the 1960s.
If there are notable flaws with the movie, they are its pacing and the subtitles. The movie is slow, sometimes very slow. Scenes of action and dialogue are separated by long, ruminative camera shots accompanied by kora music. But a bored viewer can easily fast-forward through those. Also, the subtitles are quite old and done in narrow, white typeface, making them hard to read at times.
More Mandabi reviews:
1
1
Bestsellers in DVD
![The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS]Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS]by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops:
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
![Strike the Original Match [VHS] Image](/images/Strike-the-Original-Match-VHS-0001374079-X.jpg)
Strike the Original Match [VHS]New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] Image](/images/Medjugorje-The-Miracles-and-the-Message-VHS-0001373293-X.jpg)
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops:
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single Userby Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops:
Cost Accounting [VHS]by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy (Rome Open City / Paisan / Germany Year Zero) (The Criterion Collection)Image Entertainment; Release date: 2010-01-26; DVD
Best price: $46.07
Price in other shops:
No Man's LandSony; Release date: 2002-04-09; DVD
Best price: $6.67
Price in other shops:
BamakoRelease date: 2008-04-15; DVD
Best price: $29.95
MoolaadéRelease date: 2007-12-11; DVD
Best price: $29.95
Faat KinéRelease date: 2009-09-04; DVD
Best price: $24.95
HyenasKino Video; Release date: 2003-10-28; DVD
Best price: $13.50
Price in other shops:
Touki BoukiKino International; Release date: 2005-09-06; DVD
Best price: $15.92
Price in other shops:
Black Girl/ Borom SarretRelease date: 2005-11-22; DVD
Best price: $29.95
XalaRelease date: 2005-05-31; DVD
Best price: $29.95
Camp de ThiaroyeRelease date: 2008-11-11; DVD
Best price: $29.95