Title: Bouka
Director: Roger Gnoan M’Bala
Year of Release: 1988
Language: French.
Run time: 91 minutes.
“God is sick… Find some drugs to cure him!”
Due to the lack of resources needed to make films during the nascent period of African cinema, many of the first and second generation of African filmmakers could boast of only one or two feature films to their names. This means that only a few filmmakers can claim to have made multiple classics of the African screen, with obvious examples including the likes of Ousmane Sembene, Souleymane Cisse, and Moustapha Alassane. A name that may not enjoy the same popularity but is also as important as these previously mentioned filmmakers is that of the Ivorian great, Roger Gnoan M’Bala.
Born in 1943 in Grand-Bassam, M’Bala made the pilgrimage to Europe that was customary for young creatives at the time, studying in France and Sweden. It was during his time in France that he met and befriended Paul Kodjo, the legendary Ivorian photographer who would go on to serve as the director of photography on M’Bala’s first three feature films.
On his return to Ivory Coast, M’Bala worked for the Ivorian Television and Radio authority, serving as an assistant director and eventually rising to the post of director. In this role, he directed several short films and documentaries, before making his first feature film Le Chapeau (The Hat) in 1975. He did not make another feature till Ablakon (1984), and his third feature, Bouka, came four years later.
Bouka is set in a little Ivorian village and follows the adolescent eponymous character whose life is upturned when his father mysteriously dies while chopping down a tree. In accordance with tradition, Bouka’s mum is married off to his father’s closest kin (Bouka’s cousin) who, unknown to the village, is responsible for Bouka’s father’s demise.
As the young Bouka comes of age in these confusing circumstances, he begins to forge a path for himself; leading a small gang of adolescents, standing up to his mother, and even falling in love with a young girl named Ama. However, when his cousin attempts to marry Ama, Bouka is led down a predestined road which allows him to simultaneously fight for his love and avenge his father.
Bouka is adapted from Jeux Dangereux, a 1974 short story by Timité Bassori (another pioneer of Ivorian cinema), and M’Bala honours the source material by attempting to follow as many storylines as possible without neglecting the central plot. A mischievous couple blackmails the randy men of the village by trapping them in sex scams, a prostitute attracts the ire of the village women after sapping their husbands of much needed energy, the village medicine man struggles for the souls of the villagers with the newly arrived European catholic priest, and Bouka and his gang of unruly youth embark on adventures that are reminiscent of Golding’s Lord of the Flies.
The difficulties that attended filmmaking in Africa often made directors saturate their films with various themes and plots to say as much as they needed in case they never got to make another film, and this usually affected the cohesion of the story presented on screen. M’Bala had fallen victim to this problem when he attempted to examine various storylines in Ablakon, but some of the characters and plots may not have been fleshed out and concluded to the satisfaction of the audience. In Bouka, however, he showed that he had learnt from the shortcomings of his previous feature, and all the plotlines in Bouka, though distinct from one another, make for an enjoyable and coherent whole.
Paul Kodjo’s stunning camerawork complements M’Bala’s vision and makes the audience feel like nosy villagers peeping into the affairs of others. Kodjo’s tactic of stealthily capturing the characters from behind vegetation and his use of continuous shots that quietly follow the unfolding chaos on screen have the effect of transporting the viewer to the little Ivorian village, and by the end, it is difficult to not feel personally affected by the events of the film. The brilliant cast also contribute immensely to the success of M’Bala’s efforts, and he directs the blend of established names and amateur newcomers with a natural feel that yields the positive results we see on screen.
The young Kone Drissa who plays Bouka is a revelation in this role, and it is unfortunate that very little information is available about the actor. Although he appeared in a cameo role in M’Bala’s next film (In the Name of Christ), he seems to have no further acting credits to his name, a fact which comes as a surprise given the zeal with which he interprets his role in Bouka. Akissi Delta plays Bouka’s mother, and as usual, she brings a mixture of beauty and skill that makes her the centre of every scene in which she features. Felix Lago, popularly known in Ivory Coast as Gazekagnon, plays Bouka’s troublesome uncle, Kadjo, bringing a vibrant life to the film as a perpetual agent of chaos. Cameos from big names such as Kodjo Eboucle (who played Ablakon in M’Bala’s previous film) and Wintin Wintin Pierre also serve as pleasant surprises for the audience.
After Bouka, Roger M’Bala went on to make two more feature films, the Stallion of Yennenga winner In the Name of Christ (1992) and the internationally financed and acclaimed historical film Adanggaman (2000). However, the First Ivorian Civil War (2002-2007) greatly affected all sectors of the country’s economy, and the country’s already struggling cinema slipped into what M’Bala deemed a “deep coma”. He never made another feature film after the civil war, and he passed on in 2023 at the age of 80.
Bouka screened at the 11th edition of FESPACO in 1989 as well as a few other festivals around Europe. However, the film is largely forgotten today and its stature in M’Bala’s filmography is dwarfed by the success of his final two films which are frequently screened as part of retrospectives around the world. This does not change the fact that Bouka remains an important film of African cinema, and if you ever get the chance to see it, we urge you to!
