Adanggaman

The African slave trade circa the 17th century is treated in an unconventional fashion in this 2000 French historical drama—from Ivory Coast director Roger Gnoan M'Bala—focusing on intertribal raids in which slaves were collected for European buyers. The titular character is the self-styled emperor of a coastal territory who employs ruthless female warriors to assault inland villages and secure men and women for sale to Dutch traders in return for desirable commodities, most notably rum. But even though Adanggaman is a fascinating figure—a despot who can turn from addled affability to steely-eyed cruelty in an instant—the main character here is actually Ossei, a young exile who tries to free the captives from his village. Working from a script that combines factual and fictional elements, M'Bala's film sometimes tends to meander, but the loose narrative also allows for some surprising twists, as well as striking visuals, including the haunting shots of the shackled captives trudging across the African landscape to Adanggaman's village to be divided up into clusters for sale (or worse), accompanied by indigenous songs on the soundtrack. Highly recommended. (F. Swietek)