Madame Brouette (2002)
Mati, a divorced mother of a young daughter, makes a living selling bric-a-bric from a wheelbarrow and dreams of opening a snack bar. But she falls for the charms of Naago, a cop, and it's only when the Tajaboom festival (at which women and men switch roles) arrives that her opportunity for escape emerges.
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Thanks for the memories!
The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.
The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,
A murder investigation frames the background for narrating the story of Madame Brouette (Rokhaya Niang) - a strong woman, who is dedicated to make a living for herself and her daughter in some poor neighbourhood in Dakar, Senengal. Flash-backs are developing the events which lead to the murder of the police man Naago, who was also her boyfriend and lover. Neighbours comment on her life and her good character - did she really murder Naago or was it maybe "London Pipe", a crook and local gangster? Director Moussa Sene Absa used first time actors (e.g. Naago is played by Aboubacar Sadikh Ba, a school teacher), but they all are playing their part very well. Absa likes to give his movies a specific color - which are yellow and orange in this film - and uses it to increase the beauty of the natural settings. Even though "Inspector Colombo" is only a funny & incapable character in this film, pace and storyline of "Madame Brouette" also remind of the famous detective series. On another thought, famous Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembene used a similar style of telling the life of the main character in flashbacks in his movie "Guelwaar". --- I saw this film at the Tribeca Film Festival 2003, where it was part of the official selection. I give it 8 of 10 stars. Watch it, when you have a chance - Wigbert Boell/ WebdaK Group.