100 days till eterntity

 Tragic love, loss of youth and innocence, and the cycle of genocide in Rwanda plagues the characters in Nick Hughes's film, 100 days.  The two main characters (Baptiste and Josette) are young lovers, trapped in a war torn society as Rwanda is being thrust into the grasps of genocide by a the Huttu's.  It is a ferocious cycle of events that unfortunately plagues not only the Tutsi tribe, but the entire country.

When the two young lovers are introduced, they are hopeful and looking towards the future.  There is a sense of innocent newness, to Batiste and Josettes's relationship, that is abruptly overshadowed with despair, when the Prefet declares genocide on the Tutsi people.  Through very precise camera jump cuts the scenes abruptly transition from a seemingly hopeful scenario of youthful love to hopelessness, despair and an act of genocide.  This technique of camera cuts, is effective when the lovers are shown together, in a seemingly ideal young love, interrupted by the Prefet's message of destruction.  The use jump cuts effectively show dualistic points of views of the atrocity of genocide and sets the tone for the feelings involved in such a inhumane act.  To further capture the emotions of characters, very intense use of close-up, reveal the the ominous nature of the invaders, in particular the scene where there is an intense close up of the Prefets's facial expression when he proclaims "We are going to clean out the whole country" when referring to the genocidal attack on the Tutsi's.  The camera holds his expression and shows the harshness in his eyes and his malicious intent without use of dialogue.    The use of close-up effectively captures the emotions of the characters, the official's ominous demeanor is revealed through the intensity of his eyes and the dim lighting of the background.  The use of close-ups also conveys a message of loss of youth and innocence in Batiste. When Batiste finds his family has been killed, the camera captures his empty, saddened expression in his transition from hope of love to a reality of despair.  The camera also captures, Josette's loss of innocence, when she is raped by the priest and gives birth to a child she feels is not her own, her expression is devastated and deeply saddened.  Using close-ups and effective timing of jump-cuts, the characters pull and tug at the emotions of the audience and allow for the viewer to really feel for the characters and their situation.  

         Though camera use was a vital asset in conveying the emotional state of the characters in 100 Days, I found the strength of the youth to be a sign of hope.  When the children are sent to to be burned at the gas station, they are together in survival and though they are preyed upon they stick together and that showed, that the youth has strength.  Although the children are in the middle of such a dreadful predicament, they represent the future. 

                 

  

A reflection of a changing africa in Faat Kine

       Faat Kine is a non-traditional story about a strong, successful African woman, in a male patriarchal society.  Faat Kine represents the changing of old colonial traditions to a modern ideal of equality and female empowerment, in post colonial times in Senegal Africa.  Though the story of Faat Kine incorporates political, social and economic aspects of modern Africa, it is a coming of age story of a woman and her quest for true love and prosperity.

       As the story takes place in the city it depicts a picture of Africa, very different from the traditional native country.  Using very lengthy camera pans of the city and the city life, Ousmane Sembene captures the active lifestyle of the people of Senegal.  There is strong use of close ups of characters to create a sense of intimacy.  Though there are many camera switches from character to character, the audience is kept enthralled  by the intensity of the close up.  The camera captures the emotions of each character with the use of intense camera close up and focus.  Sembene uses a very modern technique of camera shots to incorporate objects as symbols, as  the camera captures many still pictures of African leaders panned in Kiines's very extravagant home.  This is a technique used to fuse the history of a male dominant society and the modern female empowerment in modern day Africa.  The camera is used as a device to bring the audience into the experience of the characters, in particular Kiine and her childern's lives.

        Though the use of camera and filming  is a vital aspect of Faat Kine, it is a story of a young woman's struggle to find love and raise two successful students, whom are educated and very well spoken.  She is a single mother and has two children by two different men, a curse in prior african traditions, but Kiine is able to survive and become successful despite her traditional shortcomings and eventually find love and with love she discovers trust and chivalry.  As Kiine confronts her prior love interests, she sheds her past foils, she finds true love in the end.  This is a symbol of old male patriarchal colonial tradition passing on and that is the beauty of Faat Kiine's struggle, she succeeds against the odds of political, traditional and economic strife to propel herself and her children into a better life.