Saw this at the 2023 filmfestival Ghant (Belgium). This movie lacks a comprehensible and consistent story. Instead, it treats us on a series of beautiful scenes with folkloristic events, colorful dresses for the occasions, family traditions, and local customs, centering around superstition and witchcraft and how to deal with that. Bear in mind that witchcraft is a vehicle to explain everything that deviates from the norm. The best example is Koffi's bloody nose dripping on a baby, after which the baby is declared cursed, followed by a ritual to avert alleged ill effects (luckily without really harming Koffi, but it looked dangerous).
Nice scenes, a feast to watch (most of them), but it seems a bit artificially sequenced around the trip by Koffi with Clara, his pregnant white wife. They intend to pay respect to Koffi's family he did not see in many years, and to pay the dowry to his mother. In the beginning of the story, Clara is expecting a twin (due date 4 month to go). Some months later we see the couple carrying a black and a white child, giving rise to some dubious remarks from his uncle. Apparently, the fact that these two babies have different colors, carries a lot of implicit meanings (beyond our understanding, we can only guess). The obvious time jump four months ahead is not explained; there is no reason for them to have stayed that long, so I'm confused.
Clearly, not everyone in Koffi's family welcomes the couple, apparently something that can be explained from his past as a child, not wished by his mother who went at great length to get rid of the unborn baby. Apart from his youth, leaving Congo did not help to improve things (I think), and bringing a white pregnant woman with him did not do much good either. Family relationships are not easily restored merely by trying and despite good intentions. The turbulent past cannot be wiped out.
Nice scenes, a feast to watch (most of them), but it seems a bit artificially sequenced around the trip by Koffi with Clara, his pregnant white wife. They intend to pay respect to Koffi's family he did not see in many years, and to pay the dowry to his mother. In the beginning of the story, Clara is expecting a twin (due date 4 month to go). Some months later we see the couple carrying a black and a white child, giving rise to some dubious remarks from his uncle. Apparently, the fact that these two babies have different colors, carries a lot of implicit meanings (beyond our understanding, we can only guess). The obvious time jump four months ahead is not explained; there is no reason for them to have stayed that long, so I'm confused.
Clearly, not everyone in Koffi's family welcomes the couple, apparently something that can be explained from his past as a child, not wished by his mother who went at great length to get rid of the unborn baby. Apart from his youth, leaving Congo did not help to improve things (I think), and bringing a white pregnant woman with him did not do much good either. Family relationships are not easily restored merely by trying and despite good intentions. The turbulent past cannot be wiped out.