The Woman King proves that Afro-feminism makes movies better

In the cinema there are those films that know no alternative to the dilemma invisibility of racialized women / racist stereotypes. And then there is The woman kingin theaters this Wednesday September 28.

Here you are review and analysis of the filmwhich I hope you’ve seen before – because it’s great, but also because this article is generously sprinkled with spoiler.

The Woman King, what is it about?

The woman king track the’true story of Agojiea unit of warrior women elite responsible for the protection of the kingdom of Dahomey at the beginning of the 19th century in West Africa, where present-day Benin is located.

General Nanisca trains and trains a new generation of recruits. He thus prepares them for a merciless battle against the colonists.

An afrofeminist blockbuster

The woman king is realized from a black woman, tell the story of black women, and it is incarnate by black actresses dark skin. When the credits roll, we see that even behind the camera, the vast majority of names are female.

And it shows. And it is a step immense for feminism in the cinema, that is to say for the cinematographic period.

without having seen The woman kingone might fear that this is just another film that claims to be feminist but would be satisfied with substitute superficially men by women. A blockbuster in which the warriors could very well have been men since the representations do not change, the film is always like this manly.

It is not so.

The characters of The woman king I am of one impressive density and depth. The film focuses specifically on three women: the general Nanisca (Viola Davis) Izogiaexceptional warrior (Lashana Lynch) and a young recruit Agojie, Nawi (So ​​Mbedu). All three are equipped with personalities as distinct as they are fascinating. From her, humanity, intelligencethe loyalty but also humor rub shoulders, making pure examples of successful movie characters.

Brilliant director Gina Prince-Bythewood perfectly weaves the shape of blockbuster with some challenges that you never find in great action movies, and rarely in the cinema: the mioginoirthe maternity or even the sexual and sexist violence.

These themes are partly responsible for a scenario full of twists and times of great power. Definitely, the intimate is as political and important as the epic battle against the enemywhich gives this afrofeminist blockbuster a profound coherence between content and form. It is as good as black women that female warriors fight on the battlefield and on a daily basis. They fight to survive and protect their people from everything oppressions : patriarchy, colonialism, exploitation of man and destruction of the earth.

A virtuoso staging

Beyond the importance of his topic in an episode in West African history, The woman king it is extremely good staged.

Denotes in the blockbuster landscape, where some productions give the impression of having been created by an artificial intelligence, so much so that the staging is limited to a random succession of general plans And shooting of drones. All shot with the same light as the one that illuminates a Franprix shop. Yes, we think a lot about Marvel.

From the first minutes of The woman kingwe experience virtuosity fighting scenes. The superb choreographyThey impressive waterfalls and the sisterhood of warriors let us feel the measure of theirs power. The moments of the battles are very dynamic. Find director Gina Prince-Bythewood a nice balance Between the energy of the struggle And a fairly precise cut to give the viewer time to enjoy every move rather than pouring into a headache-inducing cacophony.

Specially, The woman king film shines with its treatment of sexual and sexist violence. These are represented through flashback, embodying traumatic pasts. The representations of aggression are extremely short and still shot subjective point of view : in other words, we situate ourselves systematically point of view of the victim. From that point on, the film showed a great ethic and never fall into sensationalist violence or complacency with abusers (unlike too many movies and series.)

Pre-colonial culture as a weapon of resistance

The entire first part of the story of The woman king takes place inside the building where I am recruited and trained young warriors. This opening of the film is a way for the viewer to discover Agojie’s army, but also the young heroine and main character, Nawi, during her initiation.

His training will pose important questions in the context of a profound anticolonialist : where is the balance between the fact of save his skinAnd disobey help a sister in need? It is necessary to systematically respect the order established by the hierarchy, or to cultivate its propositional strength and its own audacity or even sound insolencesometimes indispensable in the fight?

Also, if the film starts with an initiation story, that’s why The woman king is perhaps above all a film about transmission and inheritance. Through this historical chronicle, Gina Prince-Bythewood immerses us a time when this culture was preserved from colonial plunder.

As such, the diversity and incredible richness of hairstyles and scenes from frizzy hairstylesof the do you liveof the danceof the songs And ritesin the film they are not insignificant: they are eminently political. For the director, it’s not about masking the actresses and parading them through an exotic junk landscape. Every detail of the costumes or sets is visual glare And a strong political and anti-colonial gesture. As such, the film’s only regrettable point is undoubtedly this accent used by the actors …

Ultimately, there is a strong dimension half in The woman king. The black women behind the project give revive a culture that colonialism will have tried to destroy for four centuries. Plus, they do it in a $ 50 million blockbuster, pretty much where, except for Black Pantherwe basically only see white men. The women of The woman king they are as powerful, revolutionary and important as the warriors they pay homage to.

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