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Moolaade Movie Review

Moolaade is a 2004 Senegalese film directed by Ousmane Sembene and starring Fatoumata Coulibaly. It’s such an important, heartbreaking movie.

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“There is more to being a man

than having a set of balls“

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In one African village, girls must go through “purification”, which is a form of genital mutilation practiced by Muslim African countries for decades. One woman doesn’t want her daughter to go along with it, so she sets out to stop this cruel practice once and for all. This film is very important on multiple fronts. Not only does it bring to light the horrendous practice of female genital mutilation that plagues some countries, but it also only further showcases how horrendous Islam is as a religion, and how the countries that practice this religion still are living in their own Dark Ages.

Female genital mutilation to us from developed countries sounds absolutely atrocious. A solid percentage of girls actually die from it while others remain mutilated for the rest of their lives. This is all done in the name of Allah, again pinpointing the many tragedies that happen beneath this terrible religion, and they do it to make the women more physically appealing to male suitors.

The film does explain their reasoning very well, but still it is a dumb, incredibly sexist reasoning. The movie also portrays just how sexist this entire society is by forcing women to marry the men who have more money and by making their opinion not worthy of taking into consideration. That is why that entire third act was very powerful as it was wonderfully feminist and very empowering.

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There is a lot of themes going on in Moolaade, one of them also being the modernization of African countries and the clash between traditional and modern lifestyles, and how you cannot really separate yourself from the rest of the developed world for long. That is all exemplified in the character of Ibrahima, a man who has lived in France and who got his eyes opened not only by religion but also by human equality of the West. The radio scenes are amusing, but also a painful showcase of how some countries even nowadays don’t have access to basic technology.

The film’s biggest problem is its unwillingness to properly develop all of its important characters as it has way too many of them, but some are undeniably effective. Colle is a powerful figure representing all feminism and she is fiercely brave in the flogging sequence, which is one of the most memorable scenes in the film. I also liked the other wives, though they are less developed. And yes, in some of these African countries men have multiple wives, which is a further proof of how desperately they are in need of progress.

Ousmane Sembene directed the film with a lot of flair and confidence as the movie flows well and is very accomplished at what it’s trying to achieve – its feminist tone isn’t done in an over-the-top manner, but done just right. Thus, it is a very moving movie that is downright tragic in certain moments.

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The pacing could have been better as the first half is less involving and slower overall, but Moolaade is so meticulous in its immediate details in the life of African villagers that it’s very transporting in quality – the sand, the huts, the heat etc. Everything here is very memorable and authentic. The same goes for its great score and terrific, grounded dialogue.

Immediate and abundant in its lifestyle details as well as very grounded in reality in terms of dialogue and characterization, Moolaade is a powerful piece of African cinema that painfully deals with the horrors of female genital mutilation as well as sexism as a whole that exists in many countries of this continent. It’s a very well crafted, powerful movie that is important in its subject matter and audacious in its fierce feminism.

My Rating – 4.5

You can get the great Moolaade on Amazon.