In the clip above, I discuss “Yeelen” (“Brightness”), directed by Souleymane Cissé. It’s shocking to note that Cissé has made only two feature films in the past twenty years. This film, from 1987, is a masterwork of metaphysical realism. Cissé presents a thirteenth-century legend seemingly from the perspective of its characters, for whom the supernatural realm, the domain of divine powers realized concretely on earth, is demonstrable, evident, and visible. His perspective, however, is political: the underlying subject of the story—concerning a shaman’s mortal pursuit of his son, who is endowed with similar powers—is the abuse of power and the price of resistance, however legitimate. The climactic scene offers a stunningly simple yet apocalyptic use of special effects that suggests that the magic of our own time is artistic and cinematic, and that the site of the colossal battles of our own time would be, in essence, cultural.
Cissé’s 2009 film “Min Yè” (“Tell Me Who You Are”) was one of the gems of the New York Film Festival that year. It’s set in the world of modern-day miracles, wonders, and powers—medical, cinematic, and political—and we’re still awaiting its release on DVD.
