March 4, 2015
Page 13
Arts &
BUSINESSGuide
Entertainment
Providing Insurance and Financial Services
Home Office, Bloomington, Illinois 61710
Ernest J. Hill, Jr.
Agent
4946 N. Vancouver Avenue,
Portland, OR 97217
503 286 1103 Fax 503 286 1146
ernie.hill.h5mb@statefarm.com
24 Hour Good Neighbor Service R
State Farm R
Advertise
with diversity
in
The
Portland
Observer
BUSINESS
GUIDE
Call 503-288-0033
‘Timbuktu’ is a powerful melodrama about a community in northern Mali under jihadist occupation.
Window into Oppression
continued
from page 9
The men always carry guns, even
into the local mosque. They have
brought jihad to a Muslim commu-
nity. The local imam quietly but firmly
pushes back: the mosque is a place
for quiet prayer; their shouting and
their guns are not allowed. Though
they leave, they don't listen to rea-
son. They have brought jihad, and
they are now the arbiters of reason. In
another scene, the imam, who has
obviously been fielding complaints
from the local population, attempts to
reason with one of the leaders. Where
is leniency? Love? Forgiveness?
Why demand gloves without explain-
ing their purpose? Is not jihad meant
to happen inwardly? His words
bounce off their target.
As in all wars, women's suffering
is particularly acute. Many of the
rules are directed at them specifi-
cally. A fishmonger is arrested after
she complains about being required
to wear gloves while handling, wash-
ing, and scaling fish. Another woman
gets 40 lashes for singing and an-
other 40 because she was in the
same room as the male musician
who accompanied her. The enforc-
ers of female purity make a practice
of forcing marriage on the women
they find particularly appealing.
Attempts at protest are easily re-
buffed, even when the imam tries to
assist. She has no reason to com-
plain, they are told; the husband is
"perfect" in the eyes of Allah.
The film is inspired by events
that actually occurred in a city in
Mali in 2012. Western reports fo-
cused on the jihadists' destruction
of ancient manuscripts, which is of
course terrible. But Sissako's focus
is more local, more particular. He
depicts the effects of religious zeal-
otry on ordinary people with ordi-
nary concerns. His film also offers a
rare opportunity for Western audi-
ences to sit with the experiences of
Africans as told by Africans, rather
than a story of a Westerner against
a backdrop of Africans. It is a win-
dow into life and cultural richness
that has been going for centuries,
while we in the West defined Afri-
cans by ourselves. (The contrast
brings to mind the comic depiction
of missionaries in "The Book of
Mormon," in which after a short
time in Uganda, the young mission-
aries buoyantly sing that "We are
Africa.")
Sissako's quiet focus on specific
scenes of ordinary life portrays the
brutality of fundamentalism with
clarity far more devastating than
polemics. It also offers a window
into oppression that extends be-
yond the effects of jihad. Over and
over he depicts the human spirit
refusing to be crushed. The soldiers
hear music one night and set to work
to identify the offending house.
"They are singing praises to Allah,"
one reports to their superiors. "Shall
I arrest them?" The woman who is
whipped for singing turns her cry-
ing into a song. A group of boys
pantomime a soccer game, kicking
an imaginary ball and running imagi-
nary victory laps after scoring an
imaginary goal, and then pretend to
be doing calisthenics when two
armed soldiers ride by on a motor-
bike.
Sissako's film is filled with such
devastating images, and glows with
the rich beauty of its desert setting.
Though he is less concerned with
plot, there is a small story at its
center of a couple and the daughter
and adopted son on whom they
dote. They live in an open tent, their
love for each other apparent from
small moments of gesture and con-
versation. Their neighbors have left
in the wake of the jihad, and the wife
is worried for their safety. I know
you are afraid, her husband ob-
serves. But it will be alright, he reas-
sures her. Humiliations must come
to an end.
Humiliations do come to an end
for the couple, but not in the hopeful
way he suggests. Sissako's poetic
film is full of beauty, but does not
spare us the devastation. For him,
beauty and hope is contained in
quiet acts of rebellion and in good
people insisting on their own truth
and goodness, in the face of bullies
who insist that they are the ones
who define truth and goodness.
See this lovely film on the big
screen if you can. It's playing in
Portland at the Living Room The-
aters.
Darleen Ortega is a judge on the
Oregon Court of Appeals and the
first woman of color to serve in that
capacity. Her movie review column
Opinionated Judge appears regu-
larly in The Portland Observer.
ads@portlandobserver.com
Harris Photography
503-730-1156
Family Portraits $65
Senior High Photos $65
4545 N.E. MLK 97211
antonioharris@mac.com
L EGAL N OTICES
CLUBS
FAMILY REUNIONS
SCHOOL CLUBS
BUSINESSES
SCREEN PRINTING
503-762-6042
971-570-8214
Need to publish a court
document or notice? Need an
affidavit of publication quickly
and efficiently? Please fax or e-
mail your notice for a free price
quote!
Fax: 503-288-0015
e-mail:
classifieds@portlandobserver.com
The Portland Observer