Hyenas

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.