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Adanggaman

EMAILPRINTNew Yorker Films

Adanggaman reviews
70
N/A User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 8 critic reviews
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Based on 0 votes
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama

Written by: Jean-Marie Adiaffi
Bertin Akaffou
Roger Gnoan M'Bala

Directed by: Roger Gnoan M'Bala

Release Date:
Theatrical: July 11, 2001

Running Time: 90 minutes, Color

Origin: France / Switzerland / Ivory Coast / Burkina Faso

Language(s): French (with English subtitles)

Summary

RATING: Not Rated

Starring Ziable Honoré Goore Bi, and Mylène-Perside Boti Kouame

Set in the late 17th century on the Western coast of Africa, Adanggaman is a provocative retelling of the African slave experience, based on historical facts. (Film Forum)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

88

Boston Globe Loren King

The film's disturbing images are presented matter-of-factly, which makes them more powerful, not less.

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80

The New York Times A.O. Scott

The narrative motion is tricky; first it canters, then shifts into a heady, quick gallop. What's most fascinating about Adanggaman are the scenes that feel like anecdotal rest stops but that are actually building into a nuanced and engrossing whole.

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75

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

This one uses sweeping compositions of nearly solitary figures as a reminder of what individuals stood to lose, and an auction scene is horrifying -- some livestock and a basket of everyday items are exchanged for a man's future.

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70

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

Ostensibly factual, helplessly self-conscious -- Adanggaman is being touted as the continent's first film about slavery as it was experienced on African soil—where the victims and enslavers were both native peoples.

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70

TV Guide Ken Fox

Beautifully filmed, but extremely painful examination of the African slave trade takes a difficult position: Rather than focusing on the white European superstructure, Ivory Coast director Roger Gnoan M'bala focuses on African complicity in the capture and selling of African people.

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63

Chicago Tribune John Petrakis

The film doesn't always take advantage of its dramatic potential (except for its strong soundtrack), as it relies too heavily on scenes of crazed warriors in makeup and costume, running and screaming and jumping up and down.

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63

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Well-acted and nicely photographed, and has good action sequences, even if the screenplay (by M'Bala, Jean-Marie Adiaffi and Bertin Akaffou) is simplistic and there are slow stretches.

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60

Variety David Rooney

Dramatically naive at times, but still represents a refreshingly ambitious, imaginative film in a period of creative underachievement for African cinema.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 0.0 (out of 10) based on 0 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

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