Hyenas (1992 film) explained

Hyenas
Director:	Djibril Diop Mambéty
Producer:	Pierre-Alain Meier Alain Rozanès
Starring:	Ami Diakhate
Music:	Wasis Diop
Cinematography:	Matthias Kälin
Editing:	Loredana Cristelli
Distributor:	California Newsreel Productions
Runtime:	110 minutes
Country:	Senegal
Language:	Wolof

Hyenas (French: Hyènes) is a 1992 Senegalese film adaptation of Friedrich Dürrenmatt's Swiss-German satirical tragicomedy play The Visit (1956),^[1] directed by Djibril Diop Mambéty. The intimate story of love and revenge parallels a critique of neocolonialism and African consumerism. It was entered into the 1992 Cannes Film Festival.^[2]

Plot

Hyenas (Hyenas) tells the story of Linguere Ramatou, an aging, wealthy woman who revisits her home village of Colobane. Linguere offers a disturbing proposition to the people of Colobane and lavishes luxuries upon them to persuade them. This embittered woman, "as rich as the World Bank", will bestow upon Colobane a fortune in exchange for the murder of Dramaan Drameh, a local shopkeeper who abandoned her after a love affair and her illegitimate pregnancy when she was seventeen.

Cast

• Ami Diakhate as Linguère Ramatou
• Djibril Diop Mambéty as Gaana
• Mansour Diouf as Dramaan Drameh
• Calgou Fall as the priest
• Faly Gueye as Mme. Drameh
• Mamadou Mahourédia Gueye as the Mayor
• Issa Ramagelissa Samb as the professor

Critical response

Critical response to the film was mostly positive. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 91% of critics gave the film positive reviews. Hyenas was nominated for the Golden Palm Award at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival.

• "A timeless story...The strong story line and fine ensemble acting provide a faster, more easily assimilated rhythm than many African films." - Variety
• "This pungent film adaptation's change of locale lends the tale a new political dimension...(Mambety) inflects the grim drama with an edge of carnival humor. This film carries a sting!" - The New York Times
• "This wicked tale, told with wit and irony, has all the ingredients of a crowd-pleaser." - The Village Voice
• "Funnier and warmer than Dürrenmatt ever dared to be but with the tale's bleak, ominous edges still in evidence." - New York Newsday

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Web site: California Newsreel - HYENAS . California Newsreel . 25 January 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20101220190013/http://newsreel.org/video/HYENAS . 20 December 2010 .

Notes and References

1. Web site: Film Review: Hyenas . Ralph Dumain: "The Autodidact Project" . 22 January 2010.
2. Web site: Festival de Cannes: Hyènes . 14 August 2009 . festival-cannes.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110919025214/http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/7/year/1992.html . 19 September 2011 .