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Genesis

1999, Movie, NR, 102 mins

Genesis: Review

GENESIS
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This thrilling interpretation of Chapters 23 through 37 of the Book of Genesis masterfully combines Old Testament lore with traditional African culture, and when it comes to great stories, there's no topping the Old Testament. Malian director Cheik Oumar Sissoko's take on the story of Jacob has it all: fraternal hatred, kidnapping, betrayal, vengeance, mass slaughter — and that's just the first half hour. Jacob (Sotigui Kouyate) has been mourning the apparent death of his beloved son Joseph, who was actually sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. Jacob hasn't left his tent in twenty months, but when his daughter Dinah (Fatoumata Diawara) is abducted by Shechem (Oumar Namory Keita), the son of Hamor (Balla Moussa Keita), prince of Canaan, a meeting is forced upon him. Dinah's brothers insist that the only way Jacob's clan and the Canaanites could ever intermingle would be if the latter were all circumcised; amazingly, they agree. But when the surgery is complete, Jacob's sons storm the village and slaughter all the men. This betrayal is yet another manifestation of the once peaceful postdiluvian world's degeneration into strife and bitter feuding, and the tense situation is further complicated by Esau (Salif Keita) who's lurking in the hills above Canaan, still sore over having traded his birthright to younger brother Jacob for a bowl of soup. The rest of this exquisitely shot film follows Genesis a little less closely — French screenwriter Jean-Louis Sagot-Duvauroux juggles the chronology quite a bit — but the overall effect is stunning. This is no stodgy Biblical epic: Setting the tale in ancient Mali and filling it with the sights and sounds traditional Africa allows Sissoko (a resolutely political filmmaker) to draw important parallels with the internecine warfare that continues to plague modern-day Africa. He brings the age-old story fully to life in a fresh and colorful new context that's unforgettable. leave a comment --Ken Fox
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