Movie Review: ‘Mille Soleils,’ a Portrait of Senegal by Mati Diop

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By A. O. Scott

Magaye Niang, who once before starred in a film, plays himself in Mati Diop’s “Mille Soleils,” which looks at Mr. Niang’s past and present and those of Senegal. Credit Anna Sanders Films

SENEGAL---At the beginning of Mati Diop’s “Mille Soleils,” a man drives a herd of skinny long-horned cattle toward a slaughterhouse in a busy section of Dakar, Senegal, bringing car traffic to a halt. Drawing inspiration from “Bonnie and Clyde,” “Easy Rider,” American blaxploitation films and the French New Wave, “Touki-Bouki” is a potent blend of pop energy and political insight, a vivid snapshot of the cultural contradictions facing Francophone Africa in the aftermath of colonialism. Heartbreaking and thought-provoking, “Mille Soleils” traces connections between Senegal’s past and present, and reflects on a cinematic legacy that remains insufficiently appreciated, in the West and perhaps also in Africa. [link]