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‘Atlantics’ Review: Haunted by Ghosts and Injustice in Senegal ‘Atlantics’ Review: Haunted by Ghosts and Injustice in Senegal
(about 16 hours later)
In its first scenes, “Atlantics,” the French-Senegalese director Mati Diop’s remarkable debut feature, slides gracefully between moods and genres, teasing the viewer’s assumptions about what kind of film it might be. Construction workers demand their unpaid wages and then ride home empty-handed in the open bed of a pickup truck. One of them, Souleiman (Ibrahima Traoré), meets his girlfriend, Ada (Mama Sané), in an abandoned building near the beach. They kiss, they argue and she goes off with her friends, not all of whom get along with one another. In its first scenes, “Atlantics,” the French-Senegalese director Mati Diop’s remarkable debut feature, slides gracefully between moods and genres, teasing the viewer’s assumptions about what kind of film it might be. Construction workers demand their unpaid wages and then ride home empty-handed in the open bed of a pickup truck. One of them, Souleiman (Ibrahima Traoré), meets his girlfriend, Ada (Mama Sané), in an abandoned building near the beach. They kiss, they argue and she goes off with her friends, not all of whom get along with one another.
Elements of romance, comedy and kitchen-sink realist drama combine and refract against the backdrop of Dakar — its poor and wealthy neighborhoods, its commerce and its traffic. The Atlantic Ocean is never offscreen for very long, its presence both threatening and comforting, a symbol of freedom and death.Elements of romance, comedy and kitchen-sink realist drama combine and refract against the backdrop of Dakar — its poor and wealthy neighborhoods, its commerce and its traffic. The Atlantic Ocean is never offscreen for very long, its presence both threatening and comforting, a symbol of freedom and death.
Though she loves Souleiman, Ada is engaged to a rich family’s son who works mainly in Italy. He returns to Dakar for the wedding — bringing a rose gold iPhone for his fiancée — just as Souleiman, along with some of his co-workers, sets off in a boat, hoping to reach Spain. Though she loves Souleiman, Ada is engaged to a rich family’s son who works mainly in Italy. He returns to Dakar for the wedding — bringing a rose gold iPhone for his fiancée — just as Souleiman, along with some of his co-workers, sets off in a boat, hoping to reach Spain.
It’s around this point that “Atlantics” transforms itself, almost imperceptibly, into something entirely different from what it had seemed to be. Without letting go of its grounding in the lives and desires of its characters, especially Ada, it becomes an unusual kind of ghost story, more unnerving than terrifying, a supernatural fable of resistance and revenge.It’s around this point that “Atlantics” transforms itself, almost imperceptibly, into something entirely different from what it had seemed to be. Without letting go of its grounding in the lives and desires of its characters, especially Ada, it becomes an unusual kind of ghost story, more unnerving than terrifying, a supernatural fable of resistance and revenge.
I don’t want to reveal too much, except to note Diop’s daring use of music and simple visual effects to orchestrate a complex mood of longing, desperation and anger. When night falls, strange things begin to happen in Dakar, which a few worried citizens attribute to demonic possession. Ada’s wedding is disrupted by an unexplained fire, and the developer who had cheated Souleiman and the other construction workers out of their money receives an unwelcome visit. Issa (Amadou Mbow), a young detective whose commander touts him as a rising star on the force, pursues the case in spite of mysterious health problems and growing bafflement. Ada, meanwhile, takes refuge in the beachside bar managed by her friend Dior (Nicole Sougou).I don’t want to reveal too much, except to note Diop’s daring use of music and simple visual effects to orchestrate a complex mood of longing, desperation and anger. When night falls, strange things begin to happen in Dakar, which a few worried citizens attribute to demonic possession. Ada’s wedding is disrupted by an unexplained fire, and the developer who had cheated Souleiman and the other construction workers out of their money receives an unwelcome visit. Issa (Amadou Mbow), a young detective whose commander touts him as a rising star on the force, pursues the case in spite of mysterious health problems and growing bafflement. Ada, meanwhile, takes refuge in the beachside bar managed by her friend Dior (Nicole Sougou).
This intricate story, arcing toward a moving, bracing resolution, is built on a bedrock of cruelty that extends from family life to the social structure of Dakar and beyond, into a world of mass migration, pervasive inequality and soulless capital. Souleiman, deprived of his wages, risks his life on the open water. Ada, for her part, is caught in the maze of patriarchy and static gender roles. Her fiancé’s parents compel her to undergo a humiliating virginity test. Issa locks her up on a flimsy pretext. Except for Dior, Ada’s friends are either shallow or judgmental. Independence is at least as far out of reach for her as wealth was for Souleiman.This intricate story, arcing toward a moving, bracing resolution, is built on a bedrock of cruelty that extends from family life to the social structure of Dakar and beyond, into a world of mass migration, pervasive inequality and soulless capital. Souleiman, deprived of his wages, risks his life on the open water. Ada, for her part, is caught in the maze of patriarchy and static gender roles. Her fiancé’s parents compel her to undergo a humiliating virginity test. Issa locks her up on a flimsy pretext. Except for Dior, Ada’s friends are either shallow or judgmental. Independence is at least as far out of reach for her as wealth was for Souleiman.
The real horror Diop wants the audience to face doesn’t come from anything supernatural, but from harsh facts of life. It’s almost impossible for a filmmaker to face those squarely, without succumbing either to exploitative misery-mongering or to vaguely progressive sentimental humanism. “Atlantics,” which won the Grand Prix (effectively second prize) at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, avoids those traps by asserting its integrity as a piece of entertainment. Like “Parasite,” its fellow Cannes honoree, it testifies to the variety and vitality of politically alert genre filmmaking. It’s a suspenseful, sensual, exciting movie, and therefore a deeply haunting one as well. The real horror Diop wants the audience to face doesn’t come from anything supernatural, but from harsh facts of life. It’s almost impossible for a filmmaker to face those squarely, without succumbing either to exploitative misery-mongering or to vaguely progressive sentimental humanism. “Atlantics,” which won the Grand Prix (effectively second prize) at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, avoids those traps by asserting its integrity as a piece of entertainment. Like “Parasite,” its fellow Cannes honoree, it testifies to the variety and vitality of politically alert genre filmmaking. It’s a suspenseful, sensual, exciting movie, and therefore a deeply haunting one as well.
AtlanticsAtlantics
Not rated. In Wolof, French and English, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 44 minutes.Not rated. In Wolof, French and English, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 44 minutes.