The Money Order

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Audience Member It was very slow moving. It was boring. It was frustrating and predictable. I would not recommend the movie or the book. I did not feel bad for the main character; he seemed selfish and angry. Rated 0.5/5 Stars •  Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Audience Member Continuing his exploration of the African culture and it's relationship with the French colonial empire, Sembene goes deeper into his criticism of his society and the people around him. This film once again show a very African view of some situations and the specific way people deal with daily adversity in a country that hasn't yet fully found it's way out of the colonialist way of thinking. I really liked the film although some elements were unclear to me, probably due to my lack of African culture knowledge, but it's a good film and a piece of social cinema that demonstrate a certain way of life at a certain time in a certain place. Interesting from start to finish. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Could be remade in America today without any loss of relevance. "Sorry, but do you have proof of legal presence?" Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review walter m [font=Century Gothic]"Mandabi" starts with Ibrahim Dieng(Makhouredia Gueye) being sent a money order for 25,000 francs from his nephew(Mouss Diouf) in Paris. But before he hears about this, his two wives(Ynousse N'Diaye & Isseu Niang) intercept it and use it to get credit for the local store to buy badly needed rice for their family. Even though he is well fed for a change, Ibrahim is still incensed at their duplicity, afraid his neighbors will find out he has money. Before anything else can happen, he goes to the post office to cash the money order but cannot because he does not have an identity card.[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]Written and directed by Ousmane Sembene, "Mandabi" is a pointed examination of his home country of Senegal.(Not to mention a warning against buying on credit.) In general, the movie is concerned with identity as Ibrahim is on a desperate search to find any way of proving who he is. As he does this, he gets out of the house to get a better look at his surroundings and does not like what he sees(I did not like Ibrahim at first because of how he treated his wives but eventually warmed up to him.) which reflects the movie's pessimistic tone. Ibrahim has not worked for four years and many other people do not either, due to a lack of jobs.(And those that do either work on the margins or rely on criminal enterprises to get them enough to eat.) His nephew went to Paris to find work but the movie does not advise this course of action. In fact, its advice to the people of Senegal is to stay and fight to make their country a better place.[/font] Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Watch Bicycle Thieves first. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Audience Member It is an interesting movie about post-colonial Senegal. Sembene's perspective is quite a nihilistic one because he criticizes the archaisms of African traditions (the protagonist is lazy and sexist), the colonial heritage (the movie is not too kind on French-type administrations) as well as the corruption of post-colonial nouveaux riches. It is also reminiscent of the Soleils des Independances by Kourouma (a famous Ivorian novel on a similar topic). Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Money Order

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