Guimba the Tyrant

Winner of the Grand Prize at the Pan-African Film Festival, director Cheick Oumar Sissoko's political fable examines the foibles of absolute power. Guimba is a petty despot who goes a little too far when he insists that a village noble give up his wife because the tyrant's bratty dwarf son wants her for a bride. In the end, Guimba must resort to using occult powers, which turns the people against him in a bizarre showdown. While the political side of Sissoko's epic is more than a little wise, the fabulist elements are likely to confuse many viewers and--in the long run--ultimately dilute the power of the film. Optional. (R. Pitman)[DVD Review--March 22, 2005--Kino, 93 min., in Bambara w/English subtitles, not rated, $29.95--Making its debut on DVD, 1995's Guimba the Tyrant is presented in a decent letterboxed transfer with only one extra: a stills gallery. Bottom line: still a so-so film, the fact that African cinema is woefully underrepresented in both library collections and video stores makes this a strong optional purchase.]