The global fight against implementation of Sharia law and
the struggle against Islamofascism is given a very different perspective in
Abderrah Sissako’s striking and thoughtful Timbuktu.
In 2012, militants took over the city in Mali and laid down new laws regarding
dress codes for men and women, music performance, smoking, and adultery. They
also make clear what some punishments might be.
The city of Timbuktu is cosmopolitan. It is made up of
people from many different places and cultures, they speak several different
languages. The absurdity of foreigners walking into town and trying to create a
new uniform culture is certainly on Sissako’s mind. There is no shortage of
absurdity in Timbuktu including the
hypocrisy of those who are meant to enforce the new laws. Football is not
permitted but three soldiers fiercely debate whether Barcelona or Madrid have
the better team. And the kids play a gorgeous game of soccer with no ball. They
rely on their imaginations and ingenuity to have a good time. It is one of the
film’s most sublime moments. Then as if to call to attention to just how
ridiculous it is, a donkey wanders across the pitch. This was one of the
greatest sequences in a film full of them.
