Movie Review - Night of the Kings

This is the official submission from the Ivory Coast for the 93rd Academy Awards for Best International Feature. It made the shortlist but didn't get the nomination. It's rare for African cinema to be recognized at the Oscars, particularly African cinema that focuses on Black people. The Academy has nominated ten films from Africa. Four of those were films from Algeria and were not about Black people. There was a film from the Ivory Coast that was nominated and won, that of Black and White in Color (1977), but even that film focused more on the White protagonists. The last film from Africa with a Black protagonist to be nominated and win was Tsotsi (2006) at the 78th Academy Awards. The last film from Africa with a Black protagonist to be simply recognized was Timbuktu (2015) at the 87th Academy Awards.

A film from Africa was actually nominated at the 93rd Academy Awards, that of The Man Who Sold His Skin (2021) from Tunisia, but Tunisia is more of a country with Arab people than Black people. The film at any rate is more about Arab people than Black people. It's a bit of an issue that the Oscars rarely acknowledge films from Africa and when they do, those films aren't about Black people. I don't feel that this film is necessarily better than The Man Who Sold His Skin, but I would've preferred this film gettting the nomination instead, not because I prefer Black representation over Arab representation. I would've preferred this film because I think this film, written and directed by Philippe Lacôte, is more about the country that's submitting it, that of the Ivory Coast, more than The Man Who Sold His Skin is about Tunisia. In reality, that film wasn't about Tunisia at all. This film is more culturally specific or depicts a specific cultural aspect than that actual Oscar nominee.

Bakary Koné, in his feature debut, stars as "Roman," which isn't his real name. It's the nickname that this young Black man is given when he arrives at the MACA prison. Roman reveals that he's a thief, a pickpocket basically, which is probably the reason for his incarceration. However, Roman is accused at one point with being involved with some gang activity, resulting in a brutal murder. It's not clear though if that gang activity is what got him convicted. His aunt raised him in what's known as the Lawless Quarter, which seems like it's another name for a slum or ghetto, a shantytown.

What's notable is that his aunt was a griot. A griot is a storyteller, a person who comes from an oral tradition that's part of the history of many countries, particularly countries in West Africa. Without knowing anything about him, an inmate who is a leader at the prison chooses Roman to be a griot himself. The film takes place all in one 24-hour period of time and the majority of it focuses on the evening when the inmates force Roman to be a griot and basically tell them a story, as part of some ritual at the prison.

Steven Tientcheu (Les Misérables) co-stars as Blackbeard, the leader of the inmates at the prison. He's known as Dangôro, which translates to "supreme master." He's essentially the griot, but, right now he can't be the griot because he's sick. We see that Blackbeard needs an oxygen machine. It's hinted that Blackbeard is in fact dying. He's still relatively young, probably in his mid to late 40's, and maybe a bit older. However, he's by far older than most of the inmates in this prison. Most of the other inmates seem like they're no greater than 30 in age. Many seem not much greater than 20, including Roman. It's not clear what his crime is or what his sentence is, but one way or another he doesn't seem to be getting out of MACA alive.

There's some tradition or unofficial rule among the inmates. That rule is that if the Dangôro is dying, he has to commit suicide, so that a new Dangôro can rise up. There are prison guards and a warden at MACA, but it seems as if the inmates have free reign for the most part and govern themselves. Any violence they might commit among themselves doesn't seem to be overseen or probably adjudicated. An obviously gay inmate is sexually harassed and even forced to perform sexual acts, even sexual acts out in the open, and no guards do anything about it.

Lacôte paints an interesting portrait of what this "Lord of the Flies" situation in the prison is. Given the structure of the film, taking place only in 24 hours, Lacôte can't delve too deeply into it. Despite all these people being criminals and proud criminals, it's interesting to see their behavior, which veers from animal to artistic. When Roman is being a griot and telling his story, the surrounding inmates act out the scenes almost as interpretative dance.

When Roman is telling his story, Lacôte also cuts away to cinematic depictions, which takes us out of the prison briefly. These scenes not only immerse us into the African culture, which all of this is based. It also adds a bit of lightness and fantasy. Actual news footage is also included, almost documentary-style where we learn about real-life occurrences in the Ivory Coast, regarding its politics. The performances are very involving. Koné is magnetic on screen and embodies what it would take to be an oral storyteller. Tientcheu can be sexy and scary. He's great. I would have appreciated more scenes with him rather than the cut away scenes though.

La nuit des rois.
Rated R for some violent material, language and nudity.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 33 mins.

Available on Hulu.