In its portrayal of slave traders, Hollywood has always shown a penchant for the tall white Southerner with a Panama hat, handlebar moustache and sadistic laugh.
But those 19th Century villains were just the last stop for many black slaves, whose initial blast of pain and degradation came at the hands of fellow Africans, be they unscrupulous businessmen with sordid ties to greedy Europeans, or tribal leaders eager to solidify their grip on power.
“Adanggaman,” by Ivory Coast filmmaker Robert Gnoan M’bala, seeks to put the question of slavery into perspective (or at least add a piece to the puzzle) by showing how the despicable practice was already thriving in West Africa by the 17th Century.
By relating the tale of Ossei, a rebellious tribal prince who refuses to marry the woman selected for him by his father, director M’bala shows how slavery’s long reach could sweep away entire villages.
To help drive the point home, the film follows Ossei as he is captured and falls in love with one of his supposed enemies — a woman warrior named Naka — before sliding back into his inevitable fate.
The film doesn’t always take advantage of its dramatic potential (except for its strong musical soundtrack), as it relies too heavily on scenes of crazed warriors in makeup and costume running and screaming and jumping up and down.
But there are also images that are shocking and disturbing, including one of Ossei being bound, gagged and wrapped in a net, a stark symbol of man’s inexhaustible inhumanity to man.
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“Adanggaman” ((star)(star) 1/2) opens Friday at Facets Multimedia, 1517 W. Fullerton Ave. No MPAA rating; running time: 1:30.
