Bamako
Metascore
81 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 18 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
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  1. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    100
    As demonstrated in his previous film, a plangent snapshot of subsistence called "Waiting for Happiness," Sissako is a poet, and the filmmaking in this new picture is stuff of a deserving laureate.
  2. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    100
    The serious accusations are leavened by the moments of brimming, illogical, intimate neighborly dailiness the filmmaker also captures with warmth and infectious high spirits.
  3. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    100
    One reason Bamako feels like a blast of sanity is that the theoretical debates about the state of the world, particularly Africa and more particularly Mali, are only half of its agenda. The other half, broadly speaking, is the life of everyday Africans.
  4. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: A.O. Scott
    90
    Bamako is something different: a work of cool intelligence and profound anger, a long, dense, argument that is also a haunting visual poem.
  5. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Phillips
    88
    Sissako has an unusual camera eye, patient and alert to the ebb and flow of both the courtroom sequences and the outside scenes. The music is wonderful as well.
  6. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    88
    Never mind Hollywood's big-star, big-budget hand-wringing about Africa - Bamako is the real thing.

User Reviews

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User Score
7.0 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 7 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. KenG
    4
    Movie has something worthwhile to say, but it says it in a way that is tedious. This only comes to life a couple of times, late in the movie, with a cuple of passionate speeches. The message and lessons of this movie, probably could have been better served in a doctumentary.… Full Review »
  2. AndrewB.
    6
    Way too much filler. Too many scenes of people doing laundry and walking around. I did really appreciate the moments when they focused on the courtroom arguments. For me, that was the only really important part of this movie. The rest of it was repetititve, dull, and almost provocatively boring. I would have rather just seen the courtroom action and hear the arguments summed up in about half an hour. The rest was slow torture.… Full Review »
  3. ChristosT.
    10
    Four friends went to see this film together. Two walked out after twenty minutes because they had a bit too much to rink. The two of us that stayed thought it was sublime. This is a courtroom drama that is cinematic rather than theatrical, and for that reason probably "difficult" for my generation, raised on Law and Order Sexual Titillation Unit. It is also probing, intelligent, moving, confronting and formally exhilarating.… Full Review »
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