Faat Kine, at first glance, is a happy little movie about a single mother living her life. However, with only the slightest effort, the deeper aspects of the movie unfold to deliver a stunning piece of work concerning a plethora of themes. Just some of these are; gender relations, problems with tradition, friendship, charity, feminism and even love. With the cunning combination of wit, humor and just a little bite thrown into the mix, Ousmane Sembene created a powerful movie with far reaching social implications.
I have to admit, the very first technical aspect I noticed about Faat Kine was the focus-pull shot that opens the movie. Unfortunately, due to its rarity, I was unable to see the movie before the appointed time, and we discussed this aspect in class before I was able to write about it! I will take this as a vote of confidence in my own viewing, and go forth with another noticable trait.
One distinct technical aspect was the use of zoom on Kine's face. This is particularly interesting because there was no use of zoom in Sia, the first African movie our class viewed. I think for this reason I noticed the use of a zoom in Faat Kine.
The first time the zoom is used is when we the audience first meet Kine. She has worked her way up to managing a gas station, and is sitting comfortably in her white doctor-ish coat. Several people come in to her office, and each time the zoom is only on Kine's face.
One person who comes to visit is a woman selling flowers. By zooming in on Kine's face we can see her caring nature. It is almost as if Sembene is inviting us to be closer to her ourselves. The audience recognizes immediately the sweetness and charity embodied in Kine. We feel as if we would like to be closer to a woman like her. This feeling is undoubtedly increased by the visual aspect of moving closer to her.
However, these charming feelings are quickly tempered in comparison with another visitor, the man who left her pregnant and uneducated. This time, the zoom allows the audience to focus on her harder nature. She becomes almost masculine in her motions, and the slight pull towards the focal point of her face allows the audience to recognize her harsher character traits. Indeed, it is at this point that we can see some flaws in her skin. This was probably unintentional. Even still, it is almost as if the camera itself is recognizing all the character traits of Kine.
Through the use of zoom, we are able to see Kine at her most personal. This means the audience is privy to both her personable and giving nature as well as her harder, masculine traits. Although unconscious, the zoom allows these recognitions to take place. It takes a true genius to implement these smallest of details in such an effective manner.
1 comment:
Really interesting what you said about the fact that no one wanted to lead the violence at the gas station. I found that interesting, too. The thing that it made me wonder is how do a small few garner so many followers, especially when the thing the leaders are asking them to do is so horrific? That´s the thing I wonder about the genocide in general, or any mass extermination like the Jews in WWII. How does one leader or a few leaders get so many people to participate in such atrocities on such a grand scale? And especially when the people being exterminated are not that different from the people doing the exterminating, as you say: ¨The child cannot understand how the oppressed are any different from she, and the only answer the "knowledgeable" adult has is that they are physically different, and not even remarkably so.¨
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