Faat Kine

            I have to start with a confession.  When I first learned that we would be watching a Senegalese film, I was happy with the prospect of learning something about another culture, but truly had no idea where in the world Senegal was.  Granted, I wouldn’t say I have the best knowledge of geography, but I didn’t even know that the small country was in Africa, let alone one that had been colonized by the French and liberated fifty years ago.  All of these facts are important to know when considering the film Faat Kine.  My confession continues.  After learning that Senegal is, in fact, in Africa, and reading “Technological Paternalism”, I expected this film to be, well, primitive.  That is not to say that I expected something uncivilized or unsophisticated, but I did not count on methods of storytelling and filmmaking conventions that are similar to what I am accustomed to.  I am sorry to say that I am guilty of having a narrow perception, a “single story”—exactly that which Chimamanda Adichie cautions against. 

Since I have now viewed the film, I understand that while certain things may be a bit different (such as the pace and method of showing flashbacks), the film was not much different than many other films which I have become used to.  In fact, while the pace was certainly somewhat slow, it was not much different in this respect than some older American films (i.e. North by Northwest and Once Upon a Time in the West).  In addition, the views represented are not quite as traditional as I would have expected.  Although such themes are prevalent in many mainstream films, I was a bit surprised by the conversations between early-middle-aged women concerning casual sex, and Kine’s consistent vulgar speech which was pointed out on multiple occasions by other characters.  It is most likely a continuation of my “single story” of Africa, but I was expecting something more along the lines of Kine’s father’s opinion concerning such topics.  While the storyline itself is not exactly riveting, director Ousmane Sembène effectively presents the message and representations of characters in respect to Senegalese history.

According to the Associated Content review of Faat Kine, “Sembène has mentioned himself that ‘Africa can’t develop without the participation of her women.’”  Kine serves as a powerful representation of a strong African woman in the film.  She has been impregnated and abandoned by two different men, and subsequently is forced to make her way in the world alone and raise her two children single-handedly.  Her power is exhibited through her management position at the Total gas station and also her dominant role in her own home.  I disagree with the idea that, as stated in the New York Times review, her children “get the better of her at home” and that “she lives in such fear of her mother”.  These individuals are certainly both influences and challenges, but her financial responsibility for them signifies their dependency on her for protection and leadership.

One of the prevailing themes in the film is the cultural differences of religion, age, and politics.  The opposition between Muslims and Catholics is very important because it is the initial problem preventing Kine and Jean from marrying.  Sembène also shows this when a Muslim customer asks for a place to pray at the gas station and gives a disparaging glance to the crucifix around the neck of the gas station attendant who assists him.  The issue of age and values ties into the political one; colonial Africa prescribes to the values held by the older generation of Kine’s parents (especially her father) and post-colonial Africa is more influenced by its past colonizers ideologically than physically, and affects the younger generation of her children.  Kine, who was born in the year that Senegal gained independence from France, belongs to a sort of middle-generation which holds onto some colonial understandings of social oppression, but also has begun to embrace the international influences of neo-colonialism; Kine has somewhat loose morals which cause problems with her parents, but is unwilling to accept foreign money at her gas station, representing Senegal’s old mistrust for its European oppressors.  One of the final scenes in the film demonstrates Kine’s influences on her children as a powerful female figure as well as the sentiments of the new generation.  When Kine’s son Djib confronts his and his sister Aby’s fathers, he denies the power of the paternalistic Africa of old, and embraces the matriarchy that has produced him, the society of women that will help to develop the new Africa.