Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Bamako

Play trailer Poster for Bamako 2006 1h 58m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
84% Tomatometer 58 Reviews 70% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Her marriage on the rocks, cabaret singer Mele (Aïssa Maïga) returns home after a degrading night of work and finds her apartment complex transformed into an elaborate tribunal in which the institutions of international capitalism are being put on trial. Her sister (Djénéba Koné) stands up alongside peasants, farmers and other citizens, appealing to the bureaucrats of the international banking cabal. A long night in pursuit of justice is offset by a sultry evening of Malian life.

Where to Watch

Bamako

Bamako

What to Know

Critics Consensus

A courtroom drama and a portrait of everyday Mali life, Bamako approaches both subjects with equal skill and success.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View More
Richard Brody The New Yorker 04/18/2016
A courtroom drama with a difference. Go to Full Review
Jeff Shannon Seattle Times 08/10/2007
3/4
Unlike other recent films about the plight of Africa, Bamako channels its outrage more directly, yet with greater subtlety, by recruiting real-life witnesses to Africa's economic crises. Go to Full Review
Marjorie Baumgarten Austin Chronicle 06/22/2007
3.5/5
Dramatic features born and bred on the African continent are rare commodities on these shores, and the opportunities they offer can stretch far beyond film appreciation and into the realm of world understanding. Go to Full Review
Kathy Fennessy Seattle Film Blog 07/14/2024
3/4
For the most part, the arguments revolve around money, which results in a variety of facts and figures. That doesn't make Bamako boring, but it does sometimes resemble an economics lesson. Go to Full Review
David Walsh World Socialist Web Site 02/14/2021
The work has many strong and honest moments, and striking images. The filmmaker does not idealize anyone, but neither does he indulge in cynicism or despair. Go to Full Review
PJ Nabarro Patrick Nabarro 06/03/2020
4/5
Bamako works because it offers a corrective to the - sometimes unintentionally - condescending western stereotype of Africa as an afflicted and pitiable continent. Go to Full Review
Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
04/02/2014 Interesting arguments! See more 09/18/2012 good stuff great voice too See more 07/21/2012 Odd and at time fervent movie about social injustice in Africa instrumentalized by Western (northern!) international organizations. The film is embedded in a bizarre/surreal setting in a back courtyard with all sorts of things interfering with the proceedings of the hearing. Difficult to get into at the beginning, but it grows on you, and I do believe to have received a good dose of African life with all its ups, downs and sometimes infuriatingly frustrating circumstances. It helps if you are rudimentarily familiar with economic theory. See more 05/04/2012 La puissance du cinema africain. Vraiment très beau. See more 06/10/2011 A case for the injustices against Africa by the western world told in the form of a court case. With minor incerpts of a stolen gun and a female singer which doesnt quite gel with all the political content, of which is well laid out and persuasive in its form of argument. See more 05/14/2011 An African backyard court (back courtyard?) puts IMF and World Bank on trial for turning their backs to humanity. Sissako once more eschewed conventional narrative to tell a gripping story that is as relevant and urgent today as when it was first shown five years ago. See more Read all reviews
Bamako

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW
Waiting for Happiness 78% 52% Waiting for Happiness Watchlist Caramel 93% 81% Caramel Watchlist Quartet 44% 32% Quartet Watchlist Regular Lovers 82% 70% Regular Lovers Watchlist L'immeuble Yacoubian 100% 82% L'immeuble Yacoubian Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Her marriage on the rocks, cabaret singer Mele (Aïssa Maïga) returns home after a degrading night of work and finds her apartment complex transformed into an elaborate tribunal in which the institutions of international capitalism are being put on trial. Her sister (Djénéba Koné) stands up alongside peasants, farmers and other citizens, appealing to the bureaucrats of the international banking cabal. A long night in pursuit of justice is offset by a sultry evening of Malian life.
Director
Abderrahmane Sissako
Producer
Abderrahmane Sissako, Denis Freyd
Screenwriter
Abderrahmane Sissako
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Bambara
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 22, 2020
Box Office (Gross USA)
$112.4K
Runtime
1h 58m
Most Popular at Home Now