One of nine films shortlisted for the Best Foreign Language film (although it did not make the final cut), Alain Gomis's portrait of the titular single mother (Véro Tshanda Beya Mputo), who is trying desperately to raise the funds needed to secure an operation for her injured son, is both trenchant and touching. The Senegalese production is set in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where Félicité works as a singer in a bar. News that her son has been seriously hurt in a motorcycle accident forces her to ask friends and family to help with the cost of surgery that is needed to save his life. Félicité's mother offers a bit, but her irate ex-husband refuses to help, reminding her savagely that she wanted to live on her own and accusing her of raising their son to become a street thug. She does find some comfort in Tabu (Papi Mpaka), a repairman who is a regular at the bar and sweet on her, but he turns violent when drunk. Nonetheless, he willingly becomes a part-time caretaker when the sullen boy is brought home from the hospital after his leg has been amputated. Gomis mainly focuses on the gritty, impoverished life of the characters, but adds some dreamlike sequences in which Félicité wanders from the city into the nearby wilderness, along with interludes in which the Kinshasa Symphony perform morose pieces in a warehouse, as well as a humorous subplot about attempts to fix a broke-down refrigerator. The mix sometimes makes for a tonally jarring film, but also one that is overall quite powerful. Recommended. (F. Swietek)
Félicité
Strand, 124 min., in Lingala & French w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $27.99 Volume 33, Issue 2
Félicité
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