Search - Yeelen on DVD

Into the Light

Brian E. Erland | Brea, CA - USA | 04/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Note: Original language is Bambara (African dialect) with English subtitles.

Yeelen (meaning 'brightness') is a mythic tale from Africa dealing with the spiritual forces of good and evil, darkness and light, as embodied in the form of a father and son.

Nianankoro is a young sorcerer from a long family line of sorcerers. His estranged, malevolent Father is on his way from a neighboring village to find and kill his son. Nianankoro leaves his home and travels across the stark, arid West African landscape in search of his Uncle, his Father's twin brother, in the hope that he will be able to help him defeat his Father in magical combat.

Yeelen is an excellent movie, but it isn't a film for everyone. If you're interested in magic, sorcery and the mystical traditions of other cultures you will find this film absolutely fascinating and informative. If you enjoyed Peter Weir's: 'The Last Wave' you will definitely appreciate Souleymane Cisse's: 'Yeelen.'"

Yeelen's OK

Celluloid | 11/09/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Very good production values, but the plot is thin. Except for the setting and costumes, nothing particularly African in the film thematically. Interesting to watch and good musical score, but not the great movie it has been called, and certainly not a world classic."

Visually stunning, "Yeelen" is the most mystical and the mos

Roberto Frangie | Leon, Gto. Mexico | 02/12/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Its director, Souleymane Cissé, from Mali in West Africa, has expressed his desire to make films which are uniquely African in style rather than imitating those of the United Sates or Europe... To this end he relies on stories, true and mythical, told by old men and handed down through the generations...

A young warrior (Issiaka Kane), threatened with death by his evil sorcerer father (Niamanto Sanogo), goes on a journey where he learns the power of magic... The film inhabits a world of dreams, but not the kind described by Dr Freud...

However, the movie's basis in a mystical tradition does not render it inaccessible to Western audiences... The structure of the narrative, based on a quest for magical knowledge and power, is clear and firm, and the consistent pattern of imagery based on the elements of fire, water, earth and light (the title translates as 'brightness') is not specific to African culture... The film's use of landscape, yellow spaces of the desert, is one of its chief glories... The performers too have great charm..."