Xala, starring Â Makhouredia Gueye Fatim Diagne: DVDNear.com

Xala

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DVD Cover Information

Actor: Â Makhouredia Gueye Fatim Diagne
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: 123 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-05-31
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: New Yorker

Movie Reviews of Xala

Movie Review: Still Relevant, unfortunately...
Summary: 5 Stars

After the "African Socialist" revolution in Senegal, French is the official language, French advisors continue to run the country, and a small "Elite" of Africans try to steal as much as they can from the masses. The people on the streets are called "human rubbish" by these pathetic and corrupt group, who drink imported water while their people suffer severe hunger. The Xala is a curse of male impotence - a clear metaphor for the impotence of these self declared new leaders.
This movie tells all of this and much more, offering an inside look at the corrupted leadership that has robbed Africa of its future after the hopeful period of decolonization in the early 60's. Anyone who wants to understand anything about the problems of Africa - should watch this movie.

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Summary of Xala

This savagely funny satire portrays El Hadji, a prosperous, self-satisfied, politically crooked modern businessman who is struck down by the xala (pronounced "ha-la") - a curse rendering its victim impotent. While he chases after witch doctors and soothsayers on a frantic, often hilarious search for a cure, his impotence becomes a mirror of the powerlessness of young African nations over dependent on white technology.

Unable to consummate his third (polygamous) marriage, and neglecting his business affairs and political activities as he seeks a cure, his social stature is stripped away, leaving him shamed and humiliated. And while humorous, there is a sympathy in his downfall at the hands of others who are even more corrupt than he is.

XALA is a moving and comical look at a man caught up in the corruption of his country and the tribulations of a changing society.

Wealthy businessman and community leader El Hadji (Thierno Leye) has been known to take a bribe on occasion. He has two wives and has just taken a (much younger) third, when he succumbs to a xala, or curse, and is unable to consummate the marriage. In his search for a cure, Hadji first loses his standing, then his fortune. Even his wives start to abandon him. He has become impotent in every sense of the word. Based on his novel of the same name, Ousmane Sembene?s fourth film is unsparing in its critique of Senegalese men, like Hadji, who claim to be enemies of colonialism and defenders of "Africanity," yet insist on speaking French, consume only imported goods, and view the less fortunate as "human rubbish." As with Luis Buñuel before him, Sembene (Moolaadé) finds the "charm of the bourgeoisie" to be very "discreet" indeed in this devastating dark comedy. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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