The film that I reviewed was “Kirikou and the Sorceress” by Michel Ocelet. I originally saw the film about 10 years ago at home; though I just recently saw Kirikou on December 1st on YouTube. YouTube has the film in its entirety in seven 6:30 to 10:00 minute clips. The first time I saw the film I was by myself so why change? I prefer seeing films by myself when I review and critique them. This allows me to shut out any outside influences that may skew my review.
When I originally saw the film I wasn’t watching it to receive any type of meaning, although after watching it again I have picked up something totally different. The film originally grabbed my attention because it was an animation with all African characters. The film starts off in a West African country (possibly Nigeria). The scene begins within a hut where we see a young African woman who is in the middle of giving birth. Right from the beginning we hear a voice within her belly telling her to bring him into the world. The mother doesn’t obey but in return says “a child who can speak from inside his mother can bring himself into the world.” Kirikou is then born by his own emission. He then proceeds to washing himself.
In my opinion this film tried to portray many themes. The one prominent theme that I concluded that was relevant to the movie was the one that pertained to men. Throughout the film the director gives the audience slight hints to what the film is about. Ocelet uses the evil Sorceress as a key to discovering the ultimate meaning of the film. The audience gets the idea that the Sorceress is just an evil woman but as the film rolls on it becomes clear that she was just a woman scorned. The film was trying to portray that after a woman has been treated wrong after so long she can become scornful and angry. Once Kirikou came into her life he was the boy to break the mold. Once Kirikou released her from her infirmities it was evident that she was a good woman underneath all of the hatred. The Sorceress was an icon used to show how cataclysmic it can be to have scorned a woman in my opinion.
As a film the storyline was quite successful. The film has a charismatic beginning, middle, and end. The plot is thoroughly designed and the view can fully define the goals of Kirikou. The acting was also convincing to me as a viewer. I was convinced that the Africans in the animation were disenfranchised. Ocelot choose to give the film a flat two dimensional look as opposed to the trendy three-dimensional one. For this is the reason why the film may have looked older than what it really was having debuted in 1998. Aesthetically the animation could have been better but I think the film did a great job in plot aspects and character dimension that made up for its shortcomings.
I enjoyed this film and I believe “Kirikou and the Sorceress” did a great job in conveying the many feelings of the African women. I would recommend this film to anyone who is looking to see a symbolic African animation although hardcore anime lovers may not find the drawings to be appealing.
