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Bookmark this pageHyenas (1992)
Director: Djibril Diop Mambéty
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Partly based on Friedrich Dürrenmatt's play The Visit, Hyenas could be read as a simple parable about political corruption, but it's far too strange to be reduced to that. Stylistically and visually, it's reminiscent of the García Márquez-inspired film Erendira - there's the same sense of heightened unreality and (dare one say it?) magic realism. Set in a small village which mysteriously blossoms into a metropolis (i.e. it's set nowhere), it's the story of a local notary shunted into the moral front line when the town is visited by one of its daughters made good - the now omnipotent grande dame Linguere. Director Mambéty displays a slightly cruel comic touch as he manipulates his cast of fools and avenging deities in what seems like Africa's equivalent of a Krazy Kat landscape. Not quite fascinating, but more than intriguing.Author: JRo
Cast & crew
Director: Djibril Diop Mambéty
Producer: Pierre Alain Meier, Alain Rozanes
Cast: Mansour Diouf, Ami Diakhate, Makhourédia Gueye, Issa Ramagelissa Samb, Faly Gueye, Djibril Diop Mambéty full cast
Duration: 110 mins
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