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Brightness

Play trailer Poster for Brightness Released Oct 8, 1987 1h 45m Fantasy Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 11 Reviews 69% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
In the 13th century, Niankoro (Issiaka Kane) is born to the shaman Soma (Niamanto Sanogo), who fears his offspring's magical powers. Niankoro flees with his mother (Soumba Traore) and masters his skills while staying ahead of his father's attempts to track him down. Setting off on a journey to ask his uncle, Djigui Diarra (Ismaila Sarr), for advice, Niankoro uses his abilities to help tribal king Rouma Boll (Balla Moussa Keita) defeat a neighboring tribe, thereby earning the king's friendship.

Critics Reviews

View All (11) Critics Reviews
Richard Brody New Yorker A masterwork of metaphysical realism. May 4, 2020 Full Review Ed Gonzalez Slant Magazine It's a sign of true genius that a director can summon the rise, fall and subsequent rebirth of the cosmos with such a profound understanding and respect for the shape of things. Rated: 4/4 Sep 21, 2003 Full Review Farah Cheded A Good Movie To Watch An epic, spellbinding myth from Mali brought to life by one of Africa’s greatest filmmakers. Nov 25, 2023 Full Review Josh Larsen LarsenOnFilm ...has an enchanting, out-of-time quality. Rated: 3.5/4 Sep 7, 2023 Full Review Ángel Fernández-Santos El Pais (Spain) A simple and beautiful story about the long initiation journey of a young prince. [Full Review in Spanish] Jun 25, 2020 Full Review Nathanael Hood MUBI ...a tale that is all tales in its scope, tragedy, and triumph. Rated: 9/10 Dec 27, 2018 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (35) audience reviews
Leaburn O Very arresting in the first half of the film but my mind started wandering in the second half and either the film or I lost momentum. Spiritual, magical, superstitious juju stuff going on and some deep reverence for nature. Pretty arthouse stuff coming by way of Mali. Watched online on the rarefilmm site. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/03/24 Full Review Audience Member Occasionally, the narrative can be a bit hard to track down but the moments and individual shots are mesmerizing and create an unmistakable mood. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/03/23 Full Review William L A well-conceived depiction of a legendary journey that shares plenty of elements with Greco-Roman mythology but adds a distinctively African identity. Very traditional in structure and certainly a slow burn, Yeelen may not be the most thrilling odyssey ever put to film but it makes full use of its underlying culture and taps into some enticing, vibrant visuals (though some of the shots do seem noticeably washed-out, many of the landscapes are great). The narrative is an interesting combination of the human, the natural, and the supernatural, somehow managing to tie everything together in a journey that feels minimalist and restrained, but rises to a satisfactory and surprisingly sweeping conclusion. Remains among the more influential of African films. Plus, our protagonist uses the line, "my penis betrayed me", and it actually works as an excuse. So that's reason enough to watch this film if you were on the fence. (3.5/5) Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 05/13/21 Full Review raphael g The ending was incredibly poetic and beautiful. The movie itself had a nice story, but it had an amateurish feel to it, and I missed more atmosphere - but hey! that's my own mistake to create expectations that aren't necessarily meant to be fulfilled. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Immature and non sensical, .. a fairy tale mish-mash without much of any meaning, moral or otherwise. It would be dishonest if I just followed the supposed 'experts' and gave this weird time-killer anything more than a star. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review s r 1001 movies to see before you die. Arguably the best African movie made. It is unique, but so very different in its way of approaching mysticism and wizardry. It is worth seeing if only for that. It was on youtube. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Brightness

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis In the 13th century, Niankoro (Issiaka Kane) is born to the shaman Soma (Niamanto Sanogo), who fears his offspring's magical powers. Niankoro flees with his mother (Soumba Traore) and masters his skills while staying ahead of his father's attempts to track him down. Setting off on a journey to ask his uncle, Djigui Diarra (Ismaila Sarr), for advice, Niankoro uses his abilities to help tribal king Rouma Boll (Balla Moussa Keita) defeat a neighboring tribe, thereby earning the king's friendship.
Director
Souleymane Cissé
Distributor
Cinecom Pictures
Genre
Fantasy
Original Language
Canadian French
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 8, 1987, Original
Release Date (DVD)
Jun 11, 2007
Runtime
1h 45m