filmalamosa Les Hyenes...the hyenas interested me because it takes place in Senegal. I like foreign movies because it is a way of travelling. But what a Senegal! The movie is laden with dystonic visual symbolism that resembles that 1920s version of the Bride of Frankenstein (I bet I am close believe it or not). In any case it is out of place in a poor 3rd world country..it looks like you are mocking them.The result makes them look like they all wear flour sack clothes and live in absolute destitution. I doubt any of the cast truly understood the deep symbolism of having gold colored shoes made in Upper Volta? The deep symbolism is of course that they are slowly being corrupted into killing a man for money. Wow! What an idea lets use gold to show greed and sagging dirty French flags to symbolize?? The evil of colonialism? Beats me-- Senegal gained it's independence from France in 1960. This movie is supposed to take place in the 1980s. Must be a leftist stab at colonialism.Oh the story.... a woman seeks revenge for having been dumped in her youth and forced into prostitution because she got pregnant and her lover wanted to marry someone richer. A Danielle Steele novel line. She some how becomes richer than the World Bank (an institution on the tongues of every peasant in Senegal). This prostitute acquires hundreds of millions of dollars (how? in a country like Senegal?) As mentioned earlier the movie is laden with too much visual symbolism...everyone starts wearing gold colored things (get it?) and their hair starts to look like a hangman's rope etc... It is the kind of downer visual symbolism that creates unease and a desire to get out of where ever it is as quickly as you can.Poor Senegal if these are the only images people associate with it.I gave it 2 stars because frankly some of the visuals are unforgettable including a Citroen deux chevaux convertible (it is not a Peugeot as another writer says).

kemal_mumcu We were blessed with the presence of a Wolof language and culture guide (Rama). This was great. ;) Whenever there was confusion (which there was) we would turn to our expert and ask what on earth the people were doing. It would be explained and we would continue with the film, being enlightened. This added to the appreciation of the film. Some highlights: The dancing was unique and quite extraordinary - our Rama witnessed such dancing when she was in Senegal.The scene of Dramen Drameh driving the Peuguot convertible around the hunter round 'n round was quite artistic and profoundly touching. An interesting way to spend the last day of your life. The hats - particularly the soldier hats. The yellow shoes were a nice touch too. It all added to the humor of the film making it light despite the darker undertones of this exploration of the human psyche. The teacher was wise. He brought a balance and a perspective to the film, he was the prophetic voice of truth crying out in the desert. He and the doctor alone seemed to understand the deeper moral failings at work - the lure of material wealth. Dramen's soul came to represent the soul of the village, and when it died so did the soul of the village.

shrithe I don't understand the glowing reviews for this movie. I suspect the previous reviewers don't actually know Durrenmat's actual work. What makes Den Besuch Der Alten Dame, the original play, work is it's humorous qualities. Durrenmatt believed that true tragedy no longer resonated properly with audiences, so he created a black comedy of epic proportions. It's grim, certainly, but it's also absurd and with a few characters who are over the top just the right amount. In Hyenas, all humor is gone. This movie attempts to be pure tragedy and, as Durrenmatt believed such an attempt would, it fails.The movie does have it's virtues. The actress playing Ramatou is wonderfully stoic, and it suits the character. Setting it in rural Africa was a brilliant idea as well. The movie as a whole though is dry, slow paced, and often times grating (the two castrated characters are the comic relief in the play, and in the movie they've been turned into whimpering, horrible things, for example).It's too bad. The American adaptation from the 60s stays truer to the play than this movie does, not in the details, but in spirit and tone. See that one instead. For that matter, it also has a major symbolic motif from the play that's entirely lacking here. When the American film version of a European play is better than a french version of the same play, something has gone terribly wrong. I give this movie a three, for the few things it did get right.

bgddyg Hyenes, Mambety's avent-guard, surrealistic film captures the real heart and soul of the human social and economical blood thirst for money, when stopping to think about the different animal symbols in this film like the hyena, vulture, and yes even the monkey; you can't help feeling ashamed to be part of the big machine, we call progress. than again is that not what human nature, or the nature of animals is all about? Survival of the fittest. Mambety not only nails the human viciousness and easily influenced character on the head, but he slaps you in the face with our greed. A real plus to this movie is the musical language of Wolof. a must see movie and language, which cannot be matched.