047. Die weisse Massai / The White Massai (Germany - 2005)

Again, here I am, taking ages to update the blog, but I'm back! Some new films (some of them were fantastic and enlightening experiences, whereas others were just mediocres conventions of film), and I'll be adding them in the next four days or so. The first ones will account for the films that I watched during the months of March and April, mostly. I'm a little behind schedule, because of a book chapter I had to write and some other academic activities, but I'm catching up progressively, and me and Jéssica are finally rejoined in Florianópolis and we can watch more films together.
So, here we go with The White Massai, which I had watched mid-March for a course on Post-colonialism and De-colonialism.

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This is an interesting biopic as far as initial construction of plot and concept goes. The film begins well, and the tale of the white woman from the European reality comes in contact with the African otherness, and falls in love with the warrior spirit of the Masai warrior. Cliché enough, but cute enough, I must say. She immediately dumps her Swiss boyfriend - who was travelling with her - and goes after Lemalian, the Masai warrior. The failure of the film is in the poor representation of the brave white woman that wants to free herself from the chains of colonisation and blend in the African tribal society and ultimately sees that not all was a paradise that she thought it was primarily. The film only reaffirms the sense of otherness of the African, of the "primitive", the tribal. She snatches the riches of Africa, reiterates the image of the coloniser,and offensively dismisses Lemalian's culture in a disdainful manner fleeing cowardly from the country and taking with her their son, representing the soul of the African people. The fruit of her now faded away love is whitened violently. Okay, it's a biopic, but a film always has a soul of its own, and the right to distance itself from reality in order to avoid depreciative discourse.
Good initial attempt, but ultimately a failure.

Director: Hermine Huntgeburth.

Score
Cinematography: 7.0
Acting: 8.0
Editing: 7.0
Sound: 7.0
Text: 6.5
Concept: 8.0
Premise Execution: 4.5

Average Score: 6.6