During the ultimately failed military coup in Mali in 2012, Islamist jihadists held the northern parts of the country under their control. Timbuktu touches on this dramatic, tragic situation, but it is not, despite its subject matter, a heavy-handed film, let alone a didactic one. That is not Sissako’s style. His work is once again poetic and picturesque, not to mention humorous.
Kidane, a goat herder, leads a peaceful life amidst the sand dunes of the Sahara with his strong-willed wife Satima, his daughter Toya and the 12-year-old shepherd Issan, but the jihadists have seized nearby Timbuktu, a mythical city of great cultural heritage. The tyrannical regime dictates matters of faith, and the courts’ rulings are absurd. Pleasures ranging from music to smoking and football are forbidden, and women in particular are oppressed. Freedom and tolerance are being trampled underfoot by barbarism.
Sissako does not focus on politics or unrest, but on people. The director once again views people with love in all their dignity, and not even the jihadists are portrayed as one-dimensionally evil. Also take note of the contrasting colours of the landscape and the diversity of the music, ranging from Malian to Western tunes. Justice was done when this humanist masterpiece went far in the Oscar race.
Timo Malmi