“Tell me a story.” This is the command that Roman (Bakary Koné), a new arrival at La Maca penitentiary — a forest-borne fortress just outside of the Ivory Coast’s capital, Abidjan — is given almost as soon as he arrives. It’s quite a welcome. Dismissed by the prison’s guards for the gang affiliations that landed him here, Roman is thrown into the “jungle,” as the guards call it. And as soon as he arrives, everything else stops. Another inmate, the feminine Sexy (Gbazi Yves Landry), has just been knocked to the ground,...
- 3/10/2021
- by K. Austin Collins
- Rollingstone.com
A prisoner becomes a storyteller in Night Of The Kings, Ivory Coast’s vivid International Feature Oscar shortlist selection written and directed by Philippe Lacôte (Run). Newcomer Bakary Koné stars as a pickpocket who arrives at La MacA, a notorious prison in the Ivorian forest. The guards barely have control, and the inmates have developed their own hierarchical system. Leader Blackbeard (Steve Tientcheu) declares that the new arrival will be a “Roman” (French for “novel”) and entertain the prisoners when the red moon rises. Gradually, “Roman” realizes that he must speak until the sun rises — or the cost will be his life.
It’s a compelling premise that blends relatively gritty prison drama with oral tradition and mysticism. Roman claims that he went to school with famed crime boss Zama King, and invents a backstory for him set in pre-colonial Africa. As he speaks, the camera periodically leaves the prison...
It’s a compelling premise that blends relatively gritty prison drama with oral tradition and mysticism. Roman claims that he went to school with famed crime boss Zama King, and invents a backstory for him set in pre-colonial Africa. As he speaks, the camera periodically leaves the prison...
- 2/23/2021
- by Anna Smith
- Deadline Film + TV
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