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Notes for an African Oresteia
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With the participation of a group
of African students of the University of Rome
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I am looking through the camera
at my reflection
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in the window of a shop
in an African city.
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I have come to film, but to film what?
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Not a documentary or a film.
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00:01:17,327 --> 00:01:20,372
I have come to film notes for a film.
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This film would be
the Oresteia by Aeschylus,
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filmed in the Africa of today,
in modern Africa.
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I chose, for Aeschylus' Oresteia,
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an African nation
which seemed typical to me.
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A socialist nation, with philo-Chinese
tendencies, as you can see.
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00:01:47,399 --> 00:01:51,153
But this choice is not yet definitive,
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because as well as
the attraction to China,
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there is another, no less fascinating
attraction: America.
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Or to put it better, neocapitalism.
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You all know the story
of Aeschylus' Oresteia.
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I'll sum it up briefly,
and give only the facts.
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We are in Argos,
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the city ruled by Agamemnon,
who is about to return from war in Troy.
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His wife Clytemnestra awaits him,
but she loves another man, Aegisthus,
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00:02:26,063 --> 00:02:29,107
and she awaits him
with the sole intention of killing him.
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00:02:29,232 --> 00:02:33,737
Agamemnon returns to his city
exhausted and destroyed,
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00:02:33,862 --> 00:02:37,407
and Clytemnestra tricks him
and murders him.
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Cassandra, the slave that Agamemnon
brought back from Troy,
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had warned him in vain
about this murder.
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00:02:50,462 --> 00:02:55,050
Agamemnon and Clytemnestra
had two children, Orestes and Electra.
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00:02:55,175 --> 00:02:58,929
Electra witnessed the crime,
but Orestes was far from home.
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00:02:59,846 --> 00:03:04,267
But when he grows into a young man
and returns to Argos,
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he meets Electra in secret by the grave
of their father Agamemnon,
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00:03:08,897 --> 00:03:11,108
and together they decide to take revenge.
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Orestes goes in disguise
to the Court in Argos,
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and, thanks to a trick,
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ferociously murders his mother,
Clytemnestra.
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00:03:20,325 --> 00:03:24,162
But as soon as he has murdered his mother,
the Furies appear to him,
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00:03:24,287 --> 00:03:28,500
the Erinyes,
the goddesses of ancestral terror.
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00:03:28,625 --> 00:03:32,587
Orestes flees,
but he is protected by the god Apollo.
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And Apollo tells him to turn
to the goddess Athena,
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the goddess of democracy and reason -
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that is to say,
the goddess of the new city of Athens.
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The goddess Athena
decides to help Orestes,
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but not to help him, so to say,
from above, as a goddess.
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She wants to help by making men judge him,
and sets up the first human law court.
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This human court of law,
of democracy and reason, acquits Orestes.
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00:04:02,701 --> 00:04:06,037
And the Furies are transformed
by the goddess Athena
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from goddesses of ancestral terror
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into, let's call them
goddesses of the irrational,
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00:04:12,794 --> 00:04:16,465
which endures alongside
the rational democracy
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of the new state.
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I started out by looking
for the characters.
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Throughout Tanzania and Uganda,
I photographed dozens of people.
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This could be an Agamemnon.
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So could this one.
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The old Agamemnon who returns
exhausted from the Trojan war.
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Another variant for Agamemnon,
more mythical as you can see.
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This is a Masai.
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This could be Pylades,
Orestes' loyal and honest friend,
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who is always by his side,
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and who only pronounces a few words
in the whole tragedy, these ones:
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And what will be the words of your god,
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the sacred words,
the integrity of oaths?
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It is better to have men
as your enemies than gods.
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This sinister black veil
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could be hiding the face of Clytemnestra.
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This could be - I won't say Cassandra,
she was young and beautiful.
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But it could be one of
Cassandra's magic gestures.
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00:07:22,067 --> 00:07:23,526
Electra.
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00:07:26,529 --> 00:07:31,284
Electra is the most difficult character
to find in today's Africa.
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Young African women seem to be deprived
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of those feelings of hardness,
pride and hatred which drove Electra.
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And they smile, they seem only to know
how to laugh, accept life as a celebration,
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with their beautiful, bright headscarves:
red, yellow, blue, purple.
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Orestes.
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I would like my film of
the Oresteia in Africa
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to have essentially
working class characters.
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So I would like the chorus
to be of huge importance.
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In Greek tragedies,
the chorus is static and speaks as one.
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Here however I would like to set it in real,
realistic situations, in daily life.
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Here we are by Lake Victoria,
where I started looking for the chorus.
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A hut on the shores of Lake Victoria.
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And the objects you see
are the only objects
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owned by its inhabitants.
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There's nothing else.
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Here is the inside of the hut.
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The mother with her little boy.
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With the next-door neighbours.
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And over there the father,
captured by the indiscretion of the camera.
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Here however we are on a ferry,
to cross an arm of Lake Victoria.
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Full of farmers,
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on their way to the market of course.
The workers.
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Here is the other shore of Lake Victoria,
which we are drawing close to.
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Directed towards the centre of Africa,
towards Kigoma,
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on Lake Tanganyika, right opposite Congo.
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As well as for characters,
I also looked for locations of course.
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Just like the characters,
the locations should be realistic, true.
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00:11:03,746 --> 00:11:05,665
Here we are on the road to Kigoma,
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to the centre of Africa.
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This village is called Kazulu.
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It's still close to prehistory,
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these houses have only
recently been built.
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There was only a simple market here
up to a few years ago.
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00:11:30,982 --> 00:11:34,319
And this boy,
another possible member of the chorus,
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takes us to the market.
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Here it is, poor and abandoned,
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underneath the violence of the sun.
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And here is another, modest small town,
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where there was once nothing but a deserted
space in the savannah or forest
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where farmers from surrounding villages
gathered for the market.
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This, in fact, is another market.
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00:12:19,656 --> 00:12:23,660
I'll repeat the nature of my film:
it must be profoundly working class.
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These must be the protagonists, here,
this woman fetching water from a well.
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This baby.
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00:12:44,597 --> 00:12:47,350
This elegant young man.
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00:12:52,397 --> 00:12:56,859
The members of the chorus will chat
around the petrol-pump attendants,
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their clients, the curious children,
the tailors.
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00:13:10,707 --> 00:13:14,460
The tailors and their clients
have big discussions.
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00:13:14,961 --> 00:13:18,214
They talk of powerful people,
they discuss politics.
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00:13:22,719 --> 00:13:26,097
Big debates are had at the hairdresser's,
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like everywhere else in the world.
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This however is the market of a city -
the city of Kigoma,
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on the edges of the small city.
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Other characters:
slightly thuggish young men.
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Inquisitive children.
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00:14:09,223 --> 00:14:12,935
Here however is what we might call
an ancient-style market,
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just like what many markets
in the savannah must have been like,
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00:14:16,773 --> 00:14:21,152
and where farmers would go now and again
to exchange their goods.
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00:14:28,034 --> 00:14:32,246
This people,
captured in their day-to-day business,
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00:14:32,372 --> 00:14:34,957
and their humble daily lives,
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should be the protagonists of my film,
the African Oresteia.
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00:14:39,712 --> 00:14:43,466
It is they who,
because they are so realistic, so true,
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carry inside them that mythical,
sacred moment,
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00:14:47,053 --> 00:14:50,556
which will make them say
sentences like this one:
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00:14:51,432 --> 00:14:56,437
God, if this is your name,
if you want me to invoke you with this name,
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I have weighed everything up.
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00:14:58,898 --> 00:15:01,192
I know nobody but you
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00:15:02,110 --> 00:15:05,446
who can truly free me from the nightmare
weighing down on my heart.
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00:15:07,865 --> 00:15:12,161
Of course, I will not neglect the factories
in the modern side of Africa.
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00:15:13,746 --> 00:15:18,668
This is a factory city, of a factory
near Dar es Salaam.
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A factory city which looks like
every other factory city in the world.
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With girls, some of whom
still belong to the ancient world,
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archaic peasants let's call them.
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00:15:30,930 --> 00:15:36,310
Whereas others are already modern,
advanced - like this one for example.
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00:15:42,108 --> 00:15:46,154
And as well as the factories,
I will not neglect the schools.
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00:15:48,823 --> 00:15:52,618
This school is very modern,
as you can see.
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It's near Kigoma.
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It's called Livingstone, because it's near
the place where Livingstone met Stanley.
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Desacralising Africa.
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Marking the start of the new era
of modern Africa.
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The boys are working.
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According to modern pedagogical methods,
study should be combined with work.
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From fields to reading.
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00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:39,123
Here is a classroom full of zealous
and respectful students.
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African students, presented with knowledge
which still seems to them like a gift,
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are obedient, passive and humble.
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00:16:58,768 --> 00:17:02,230
So, you have seen some travel notes
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which have helped me block some scenes,
define some characters
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00:17:06,984 --> 00:17:09,654
for my film of the Oresteia.
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00:17:09,779 --> 00:17:12,865
First of all, I would like to tell you
why I decided
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to set the Oresteia in today's Africa.
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This is the essential, profound reason:
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I feel I can see analogies between
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the Oresteia and Africa today.
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Above all in terms of the transformation
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of the Erinyes into Eumenides.
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00:17:32,176 --> 00:17:35,888
It seems to me
that African tribal civilisation
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resembles Greek archaic civilisation.
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00:17:39,141 --> 00:17:42,186
And the discovery of democracy
made by Orestes,
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which he then takes to his country -
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Argos in the tragedy, Africa in our film -
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is, in a way, the discovery of democracy
which Africa has made in recent years.
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00:17:55,157 --> 00:17:58,369
So the first two questions
I want to ask you are these:
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do you think I could set this film
in Africa today, in 1970,
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or would it be more fitting
to backdate the film,
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and set it in 1960 Africa,
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during the period when most African states
gained independence?
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00:18:16,345 --> 00:18:19,223
I think - in my opinion,
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this film would be very valuable
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if it was set in the 1960s.
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00:18:26,939 --> 00:18:31,402
Because today Africa is becoming modern
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and is starting to resemble Europe.
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00:18:35,531 --> 00:18:40,244
It's losing some
of its typically African character.
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00:18:40,369 --> 00:18:42,288
Do you agree with him?
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00:18:42,663 --> 00:18:47,168
Africa isn't a nation, it's a continent.
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00:18:47,293 --> 00:18:51,213
Yes, but what I'm asking you is, firstly,
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when do you think it should be set,
60s or 70s,
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and in what place? For example,
where in Africa would you imagine it?
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00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:07,146
But I haven't travelled around Africa.
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00:19:07,271 --> 00:19:09,106
Where are you from?
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00:19:09,482 --> 00:19:10,900
Ethiopia.
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00:19:11,025 --> 00:19:13,277
And you only know Ethiopia?
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00:19:13,653 --> 00:19:17,657
Yes, but it's not that...
"Africa", when you say "Africa",
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00:19:17,865 --> 00:19:21,994
it goes from the Mediterranean
to the furthest point.
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00:19:22,119 --> 00:19:25,456
From the Atlantic Ocean
to the Indian Ocean.
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00:19:25,581 --> 00:19:28,334
So you can't say "Africa".
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00:19:28,709 --> 00:19:33,381
On the subject of this film,
I would like to remind its author
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that you shouldn't make too much
of the issue of tribalism in Africa.
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00:19:38,928 --> 00:19:43,599
Because Europeans generally
made too much of tribalism
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00:19:43,891 --> 00:19:46,018
to justify their crimes.
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00:19:46,602 --> 00:19:48,354
So if we talk about Africa,
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00:19:48,479 --> 00:19:51,148
we're talking about a race, not tribes,
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00:19:51,273 --> 00:19:54,360
When we say Italy,
we don't mean the people of Cagliari,
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00:19:54,485 --> 00:19:57,947
and when we say France,
we don't mean the Bretons.
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00:19:58,531 --> 00:20:00,491
That's all I wanted to add.
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00:20:00,616 --> 00:20:02,451
Let's not be afraid of reality.
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00:20:02,576 --> 00:20:05,037
If there are still tribes in Africa,
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00:20:05,162 --> 00:20:08,916
if the Libo tribe feels it is different
from the Hausa tribe,
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00:20:09,041 --> 00:20:12,670
this is a reality which we must have
the courage to address.
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00:20:12,962 --> 00:20:16,298
People talk too much about
the issue of tribes.
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00:20:16,757 --> 00:20:19,385
When someone commits a crime in Nigeria,
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00:20:19,510 --> 00:20:21,846
they talk about the Biafra tribe.
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00:20:21,971 --> 00:20:24,682
In Congo, they talk about the Katanga.
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00:20:24,807 --> 00:20:27,017
I ask that if we discuss the Congo,
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00:20:27,143 --> 00:20:28,978
let's talk about the Congolese.
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00:20:29,103 --> 00:20:32,815
If we refer to Niger,
let's talk about Nigeriens, not the Biafra.
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00:20:32,940 --> 00:20:36,360
Because when we say "Italy",
we talk about Italians.
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00:20:37,570 --> 00:20:40,865
What you're saying is very interesting,
but let me ask you:
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00:20:40,990 --> 00:20:43,951
who defined the borders
of Congo or Nigeria?
220
00:20:44,076 --> 00:20:45,619
The colonialists did.
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00:20:45,745 --> 00:20:49,623
So the Nigerian reality is a false reality,
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00:20:49,749 --> 00:20:52,042
constructed by European leaders.
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00:20:52,168 --> 00:20:54,253
They drew lines on a map,
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00:20:54,378 --> 00:20:56,839
but these do not correspond to
Nigerian reality.
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00:20:56,964 --> 00:21:01,051
I think there is a danger
when you talk about democracy.
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00:21:01,635 --> 00:21:03,637
For many Africans,
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00:21:03,763 --> 00:21:09,268
I don't know if European,
modern civilisation
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00:21:09,727 --> 00:21:12,104
has really brought us democracy
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00:21:12,229 --> 00:21:15,733
as a historian would understand it.
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00:21:16,776 --> 00:21:19,945
You've made a very
interesting observation,
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00:21:20,070 --> 00:21:22,114
which really speaks to me.
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00:21:22,239 --> 00:21:23,949
When I say "democracy",
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00:21:24,074 --> 00:21:26,577
I don't mean real democracy,
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00:21:26,702 --> 00:21:29,079
I mean formal democracy.
235
00:21:29,205 --> 00:21:31,957
When Orestes arrives in Athens
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00:21:32,082 --> 00:21:35,461
and Athena sets up
the first human court of law -
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00:21:35,586 --> 00:21:38,172
for the first time, men,
through elections -
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00:21:38,297 --> 00:21:40,049
the judges are elected -
239
00:21:40,174 --> 00:21:43,344
and they, not the gods,
are the ones to judge this man -
240
00:21:43,469 --> 00:21:46,597
a great step is made
in the history of mankind.
241
00:21:46,722 --> 00:21:48,808
But it is a purely formal one.
242
00:21:48,933 --> 00:21:52,144
Then this form is filled out
by real democracy.
243
00:21:52,728 --> 00:21:57,233
I'm not a filmmaker,
but I don't see the connection.
244
00:21:58,317 --> 00:22:00,611
Do you all agree with him?
245
00:22:00,736 --> 00:22:03,405
Is there maybe someone
who sees a connection,
246
00:22:03,531 --> 00:22:05,491
a possibility of connection?
247
00:22:10,371 --> 00:22:14,124
I think the idea could probably work.
248
00:22:15,292 --> 00:22:17,962
But it would just remain a little...
249
00:22:18,087 --> 00:22:20,172
something imaginative.
250
00:22:21,966 --> 00:22:25,135
To make a reality out of it
would be quite difficult.
251
00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:29,473
At least a daily reality.
252
00:22:29,598 --> 00:22:34,395
Maybe if you set the film
in the 60s or 50s.
253
00:22:36,146 --> 00:22:39,233
But you can find the link.
254
00:22:45,865 --> 00:22:49,577
There are still other characters to find:
the Furies.
255
00:22:49,785 --> 00:22:52,955
But the Furies cannot be
represented as humans.
256
00:22:54,206 --> 00:22:59,795
So I would decide to represent them
in a non-human form.
257
00:23:02,089 --> 00:23:04,425
These trees for example.
258
00:23:04,550 --> 00:23:06,802
Lost in the silence of the forest,
259
00:23:08,095 --> 00:23:10,890
monstrous somehow, and terrible.
260
00:23:19,982 --> 00:23:23,027
The awfulness of Africa is its solitude.
261
00:23:26,739 --> 00:23:30,034
The monstrous forms
that nature can take there.
262
00:23:31,869 --> 00:23:35,748
The profound, threatening silences.
263
00:23:39,209 --> 00:23:41,712
Irrationality is animal.
264
00:23:42,254 --> 00:23:46,342
The Furies are the goddesses
of the animal moment of man.
265
00:23:51,847 --> 00:23:54,850
This wounded lioness, too,
could be a Fury,
266
00:23:54,975 --> 00:23:57,061
lost in her blind suffering.
267
00:24:13,077 --> 00:24:15,955
The Furies in Aeschylus' Oresteia
268
00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:18,707
are destined to be defeated, to disappear.
269
00:24:22,628 --> 00:24:26,298
Thus, with them, the ancestral,
ancient world disappears.
270
00:24:28,217 --> 00:24:32,262
And in my film,
destined to disappear with them,
271
00:24:32,388 --> 00:24:34,974
is a part of ancient Africa.
272
00:25:03,085 --> 00:25:05,587
But it's time to begin our story.
273
00:25:05,713 --> 00:25:09,174
This could be the guardian who,
at Clytemnestra's request,
274
00:25:09,299 --> 00:25:11,010
on the tower near Argos,
275
00:25:11,135 --> 00:25:13,679
looks out for the return
of Agamemnon's army.
276
00:25:13,804 --> 00:25:16,181
This must be announced, as agreed,
277
00:25:16,306 --> 00:25:19,768
by a line of fires going from Mount Ida,
near Troy,
278
00:25:19,893 --> 00:25:22,312
up to the area surrounding Argos.
279
00:25:22,813 --> 00:25:26,025
But let's read a passage
from Aeschylus' Oresteia.
280
00:25:26,608 --> 00:25:29,319
Who can have alerted you so quickly?
281
00:25:29,611 --> 00:25:33,365
It was the God of Fire,
burning on Mount Ida.
282
00:25:33,824 --> 00:25:36,493
Behind him, a whole luminous chain
283
00:25:36,618 --> 00:25:40,289
lit up little by little
until it reached us.
284
00:25:40,831 --> 00:25:43,917
Mount Ida sparkling with burning wood.
285
00:25:44,043 --> 00:25:48,922
The incandescent sign which flew from Lemnos
to be reflected on Mount Athos,
286
00:25:49,048 --> 00:25:51,050
on Zeus' kingdom.
287
00:25:51,175 --> 00:25:52,718
And the third stage:
288
00:25:53,010 --> 00:25:56,930
from here, leaping over the sea,
289
00:25:57,514 --> 00:26:01,351
the beacon bearing the message
exults in its fiery power.
290
00:26:01,643 --> 00:26:05,689
From one beacon to the next,
until this night-time sun burns
291
00:26:05,981 --> 00:26:07,775
over Mount Macistus.
292
00:26:07,900 --> 00:26:12,780
Another light, even stronger, capable of
travelling the longest distances,
293
00:26:13,864 --> 00:26:16,492
is made, sweeps over Lake Gorgopus,
294
00:26:16,784 --> 00:26:20,162
arrives at Mount Aegiplanctus,
295
00:26:20,454 --> 00:26:23,707
pushes the new fire not to stop
for an instant,
296
00:26:23,832 --> 00:26:26,251
lighting a wild, ardent brasier.
297
00:26:27,169 --> 00:26:30,672
A beam of flames so bright that its light
298
00:26:30,964 --> 00:26:34,009
jumps over the promontory
at the Saronic straits,
299
00:26:34,134 --> 00:26:36,053
swoops down,
300
00:26:36,345 --> 00:26:39,431
touches Mount Arachnaeus,
close to Argos now,
301
00:26:39,556 --> 00:26:42,434
and falls on this roof of
the House of Atreus,
302
00:26:42,643 --> 00:26:45,896
the last link in the chain
starting in Troy.
303
00:26:49,817 --> 00:26:52,778
These are notes for a possible flashback
304
00:26:53,070 --> 00:26:55,322
to the Greek army by the Wall of Troy
305
00:26:55,447 --> 00:26:57,157
and to the Trojan War,
306
00:26:57,282 --> 00:26:59,910
following the words of the chorus.
307
00:27:01,245 --> 00:27:04,039
This could be the Greeks' camp.
308
00:27:04,623 --> 00:27:06,917
And this a parade of heroes, of chiefs:
309
00:27:07,042 --> 00:27:10,295
Agamemnon, Menelaus, Achilles, Ulysses.
310
00:27:13,298 --> 00:27:17,386
These could be Greek soldiers training.
311
00:27:19,388 --> 00:27:22,224
Under the command of a Thersites,
of course.
312
00:27:31,024 --> 00:27:33,569
These images were not filmed by me.
313
00:27:33,694 --> 00:27:37,197
They were gathered from archive material
314
00:27:37,406 --> 00:27:38,991
filmed during the Biafran war.
315
00:27:48,167 --> 00:27:53,505
But this war should not be understood
as a specific war, as the Biafran war -
316
00:27:53,964 --> 00:27:55,966
but as an abstract war.
317
00:27:56,091 --> 00:27:58,760
Its images are metaphorical images
318
00:27:59,052 --> 00:28:01,638
of what should be the actualisation
319
00:28:01,763 --> 00:28:05,475
of the war between the Greeks
and the Trojans.
320
00:28:11,315 --> 00:28:12,900
As I have repeated,
321
00:28:13,734 --> 00:28:17,154
the great protagonist of my film,
322
00:28:17,571 --> 00:28:21,200
for which these are mere notes,
should be the people.
323
00:28:23,577 --> 00:28:26,997
So, during this war, the humble soldiers,
324
00:28:27,581 --> 00:28:30,417
who are wounded, ripped apart, killed.
325
00:29:13,835 --> 00:29:17,756
This could be an image of Troy burning.
326
00:29:19,508 --> 00:29:23,971
These could be images of the sack of Troy,
327
00:29:25,180 --> 00:29:29,768
of the massacres and destruction
it suffered after it was conquered.
328
00:29:54,960 --> 00:29:57,671
Nothing is further from these images
329
00:29:57,796 --> 00:30:00,882
than the idea we usually have
of Greek classicism.
330
00:30:01,967 --> 00:30:06,763
However - pain, death, mourning, tragedy,
331
00:30:07,055 --> 00:30:09,599
are eternal, absolute elements
332
00:30:09,725 --> 00:30:15,439
which can very well link these
images burning with actuality
333
00:30:16,106 --> 00:30:20,527
with the fantastical images
of the ancient Greek tragedy.
334
00:30:23,530 --> 00:30:27,701
But an unexpected idea forces me
to interrupt this sort of story,
335
00:30:28,368 --> 00:30:32,873
breaking this style without style,
the style of documentaries and notes.
336
00:30:32,998 --> 00:30:34,541
This is the idea:
337
00:30:34,750 --> 00:30:38,628
to have the Oresteia sung
rather than recited.
338
00:30:40,088 --> 00:30:43,008
To be more precise,
to have it sung in jazz style.
339
00:30:43,216 --> 00:30:46,428
And in other words,
to choose as singer-actors
340
00:30:46,553 --> 00:30:48,472
American negroes.
341
00:30:49,389 --> 00:30:51,767
This will not be without meaning.
342
00:30:51,892 --> 00:30:54,811
Because if black singer-actors
from America
343
00:30:54,936 --> 00:30:57,230
take part in shooting a film in Africa
344
00:30:57,356 --> 00:30:59,733
about the African renaissance,
345
00:31:00,025 --> 00:31:03,153
of course this must have
a precise meaning.
346
00:31:03,278 --> 00:31:05,155
It is clear to everyone, in fact,
347
00:31:05,280 --> 00:31:08,450
that the 20 million
black sub-proletarians of America
348
00:31:08,575 --> 00:31:13,121
are the leaders of any revolutionary movement
in the Third World.
349
00:31:13,914 --> 00:31:18,085
We are here in a semi-clandestine studio
in a western city.
350
00:31:18,460 --> 00:31:23,507
And here we will take down the first notes
for our new project.
351
00:33:13,950 --> 00:33:16,828
The scene chosen at this point
352
00:33:16,953 --> 00:33:20,874
is Cassandra's great scene
at the beginning of the tragedy.
353
00:33:21,333 --> 00:33:24,753
Those that speak are
Cassandra and the Chorus.
354
00:33:25,212 --> 00:33:27,339
This is the situation:
355
00:33:27,506 --> 00:33:31,718
Agamemnon,
taking the slave Cassandra with him,
356
00:33:31,843 --> 00:33:35,597
has just returned,
exhausted and discouraged.
357
00:33:35,722 --> 00:33:38,767
He has seen too much
to still believe in honours.
358
00:33:38,892 --> 00:33:42,229
And in fact the city gives him
a sorrowful greeting,
359
00:33:42,562 --> 00:33:46,233
because everyone knows
the new reality that awaits him.
360
00:33:46,358 --> 00:33:50,445
His wife Clytemnestra,
who has already prepared his death,
361
00:33:50,946 --> 00:33:55,408
welcomes him in, making him
walk over precious carpets.
362
00:33:56,243 --> 00:34:01,414
Thus husband and wife
enter the Royal Palace,
363
00:34:01,706 --> 00:34:04,251
and disappear from sight.
364
00:34:05,126 --> 00:34:07,504
It's at this point that Cassandra
365
00:34:07,629 --> 00:34:12,133
has a vision of the murder
taking place behind the wall.
366
00:43:26,687 --> 00:43:29,357
Let's return to Africa.
367
00:43:29,482 --> 00:43:32,151
Here is a note for the violent death
368
00:43:32,443 --> 00:43:35,613
prophesied by the visionary Cassandra.
369
00:43:36,364 --> 00:43:39,534
But here I have no words
to communicate with.
370
00:45:21,594 --> 00:45:24,639
This clod of overturned, fresh earth,
371
00:45:24,764 --> 00:45:28,851
rectangular shapes,
like at the angles of the tufts of grass,
372
00:45:29,352 --> 00:45:32,980
is a grave which I found close to the hut.
373
00:45:38,527 --> 00:45:41,781
A grave like this could be
the grave of Agamemnon
374
00:45:42,073 --> 00:45:44,533
in my film on the African Oresteia.
375
00:45:47,620 --> 00:45:51,832
I asked those that live in the hut
next to this grave,
376
00:45:52,041 --> 00:45:53,751
a father and a daughter,
377
00:45:53,876 --> 00:45:57,213
to repeat the same gestures
and say the same words
378
00:45:57,338 --> 00:46:02,927
as are used when they go to give offerings
and say prayers at the grave.
379
00:46:03,261 --> 00:46:07,139
And they diligently assisted me.
380
00:46:07,598 --> 00:46:10,476
And this is a note on what might be
381
00:46:10,601 --> 00:46:14,522
the arrival of Electra
to pray at her father's grave.
382
00:46:14,897 --> 00:46:17,275
Let us reread Aeschylus' verses.
383
00:46:18,901 --> 00:46:23,531
God of Hell,
king of the living and the dead,
384
00:46:23,864 --> 00:46:26,492
make my prayers be heard
385
00:46:26,617 --> 00:46:29,620
by the spirits that dwell under the earth,
386
00:46:29,745 --> 00:46:33,499
terrible witnesses of
the murder of my father,
387
00:46:33,624 --> 00:46:35,543
of the earth itself,
388
00:46:35,668 --> 00:46:37,628
the mother of us all,
389
00:46:37,753 --> 00:46:42,216
who has nourished us,
and gathers in herself new shoots of life,
390
00:46:43,009 --> 00:46:46,637
while, pouring this sacred water
to the dead,
391
00:46:46,762 --> 00:46:49,223
I pray to my father:
392
00:46:49,682 --> 00:46:54,562
Father, have pity on me
and on your son Orestes.
393
00:46:54,687 --> 00:46:57,732
Make it so that we return
as rulers to our house.
394
00:46:57,857 --> 00:47:01,569
Now we are no more than two
disinherited and hopeless children.
395
00:47:01,694 --> 00:47:04,322
Our own mother reduced us to this,
396
00:47:04,447 --> 00:47:07,825
who married Aegisthus,
the accomplice to her murder.
397
00:47:07,950 --> 00:47:09,994
I am alive and a slave,
398
00:47:10,244 --> 00:47:12,955
Orestes is alive and in exile.
399
00:47:13,080 --> 00:47:16,625
And those two triumph,
made rich by your riches.
400
00:47:17,084 --> 00:47:20,504
May divine chance bring Orestes back here,
401
00:47:20,629 --> 00:47:24,592
this is what I ask of you -
hear me, father.
402
00:47:40,274 --> 00:47:43,152
And here is a note
that is different to the others.
403
00:47:43,277 --> 00:47:47,865
I filmed this scene as though it was
the real scene in my film.
404
00:47:49,533 --> 00:47:52,870
Orestes arriving at his father's grave.
405
00:47:59,293 --> 00:48:03,923
God, God, look down on our misery!
406
00:48:04,507 --> 00:48:08,427
See, the children of the eagle
are without a father,
407
00:48:08,552 --> 00:48:11,847
he died in the coils of a viper.
408
00:48:11,972 --> 00:48:15,476
A terrible hunger tortures these orphans,
409
00:48:15,935 --> 00:48:17,937
for, still almost in their down,
410
00:48:18,062 --> 00:48:22,525
they are not yet able to bring to the nest
their father's quarry.
411
00:48:22,650 --> 00:48:26,153
One same fate for me and for her, Electra.
412
00:48:26,612 --> 00:48:30,866
Look at us, orphans,
banished from our own home.
413
00:48:30,991 --> 00:48:33,953
If you let the eagle's fledglings die,
414
00:48:34,203 --> 00:48:37,081
you will no longer be able
to send signs from the sky,
415
00:48:37,206 --> 00:48:41,794
and this royal race,
this small root of greatness,
416
00:48:41,919 --> 00:48:44,630
will no more be able
to consecrate your altar.
417
00:48:44,755 --> 00:48:48,676
Save us. You can make
this house great again,
418
00:48:49,343 --> 00:48:52,221
which now is no more than a great ruin.
419
00:49:02,440 --> 00:49:05,359
Thus, Orestes is preparing
to avenge his father,
420
00:49:05,484 --> 00:49:07,862
and to kill his mother with his own hands.
421
00:49:07,987 --> 00:49:11,532
But as soon as he has killed his mother,
the Furies will appear,
422
00:49:11,657 --> 00:49:13,826
and force him to flee from his home.
423
00:49:25,045 --> 00:49:28,257
And there he goes,
and the Furies follow him,
424
00:49:28,507 --> 00:49:32,303
singing their ancestral song
of terror and remorse.
425
00:50:23,312 --> 00:50:27,900
Whether I move my feet towards the mountains
or the valley, it is in vain.
426
00:50:29,193 --> 00:50:33,280
Whoever flees out of remorse,
his suffering has no remedy.
427
00:50:34,990 --> 00:50:38,410
But here is the god
that protects Orestes, Apollo,
428
00:50:38,536 --> 00:50:40,246
who speaks to him.
429
00:50:40,496 --> 00:50:42,665
Flee, and never tire!
430
00:50:42,790 --> 00:50:44,583
They are looking for you,
431
00:50:44,875 --> 00:50:48,629
they will follow you wherever you go
in this wide world,
432
00:50:48,754 --> 00:50:52,800
even across the sea,
even in cities surrounded by water.
433
00:50:53,008 --> 00:50:56,762
But never tire of enduring
the sentence you must endure,
434
00:50:56,887 --> 00:50:59,848
before you have reached
the country of Athena.
435
00:51:04,937 --> 00:51:08,107
Orestes leaves, roaming the world,
436
00:51:09,191 --> 00:51:14,196
hounded, terrified, but also determined
437
00:51:14,363 --> 00:51:16,907
to achieve his purification.
438
00:51:23,330 --> 00:51:25,958
This is Kampala, the capital of Uganda,
439
00:51:26,083 --> 00:51:30,254
which could represent the ancient
and modern city of Athens.
440
00:51:31,422 --> 00:51:35,676
Now Orestes is before
the Temple of Apollo.
441
00:51:35,801 --> 00:51:37,928
How will I metaphorically represent,
442
00:51:38,220 --> 00:51:41,932
in my film of the African Oresteia,
the Temple of Apollo?
443
00:51:42,224 --> 00:51:44,768
I will represent it using a university.
444
00:51:45,686 --> 00:51:48,647
To be precise,
the University of Dar es Salaam,
445
00:51:48,897 --> 00:51:54,194
which, seen from afar,
immediately displays disquieting signs
446
00:51:54,486 --> 00:51:59,283
of resembling typical Anglo-Saxon,
neocapitalist universities.
447
00:52:16,050 --> 00:52:20,971
Its external aspect,
defined by elegant and confident design,
448
00:52:21,096 --> 00:52:25,017
its internal organisation,
make of it a typical university,
449
00:52:25,142 --> 00:52:27,811
such as you see all over Black Africa.
450
00:52:29,772 --> 00:52:36,570
These, I repeat, conform to
the neocapitalist, progressive model.
451
00:52:36,779 --> 00:52:39,907
They are the seat of
the future local intelligentsia,
452
00:52:40,032 --> 00:52:43,535
of the culture of knowledge
of the young African nations.
453
00:52:44,078 --> 00:52:47,873
And these, in fact, represent
all the internal contradictions
454
00:52:47,998 --> 00:52:49,958
of these young African nations.
455
00:53:07,726 --> 00:53:11,438
Here we are in the college bookshop.
456
00:53:12,189 --> 00:53:14,733
And here the contradictions I mentioned
457
00:53:14,858 --> 00:53:18,070
are declared, manifest, explicit.
458
00:53:20,447 --> 00:53:23,242
See this plaque placed above the bookshop.
459
00:53:25,452 --> 00:53:27,913
It reads that this building
460
00:53:28,831 --> 00:53:31,083
owes its existence to the help
461
00:53:31,208 --> 00:53:35,087
of the people and government of
the People's Republic of China.
462
00:53:39,591 --> 00:53:43,887
But inside the books displayed
in the bookshop window
463
00:53:44,763 --> 00:53:47,057
is the other alternative:
464
00:53:47,182 --> 00:53:50,978
the neocapitalist,
Anglo-Saxon alternative.
465
00:53:52,146 --> 00:53:55,441
Teaching English,
An Introduction to Teaching,
466
00:53:56,442 --> 00:53:59,361
Handbook for History Teachers
in West Africa,
467
00:54:03,657 --> 00:54:08,704
The Social Education of the Adolescent -
all works of popularisation.
468
00:54:11,498 --> 00:54:13,459
Tales for children.
469
00:54:16,670 --> 00:54:20,174
Or a work of popular history,
Julius Caesar.
470
00:54:22,593 --> 00:54:25,179
The New Africans.
471
00:54:28,974 --> 00:54:31,935
Townsmen or Tribesmen.
472
00:54:32,853 --> 00:54:35,481
The Rise of Nationalism in Central Africa,
473
00:54:35,731 --> 00:54:39,109
Poems,
of course in the Swahili dialect of Kenya.
474
00:54:39,234 --> 00:54:43,405
and new grammars.
Here, also, a book about Russia.
475
00:54:45,657 --> 00:54:47,493
And Jesus Christ.
476
00:54:49,995 --> 00:54:52,372
And on American education.
477
00:54:55,918 --> 00:54:58,003
Following Apollo's advice,
478
00:54:58,128 --> 00:55:01,381
Orestes reaches Athens, the new city,
479
00:55:02,132 --> 00:55:06,220
which I have temporarily represented
here using mixed materials
480
00:55:06,345 --> 00:55:08,847
collected in Kampala,
481
00:55:09,765 --> 00:55:12,476
in Dar es Salaam, and in Kigoma.
482
00:55:13,227 --> 00:55:15,979
A new city that astounds Orestes,
483
00:55:16,104 --> 00:55:20,442
who has come from barbaric,
feudal, religious Argos.
484
00:55:22,402 --> 00:55:26,156
The goddess Athena, the goddess of
the new Athenian democracy,
485
00:55:26,281 --> 00:55:27,825
the goddess of reason,
486
00:55:27,950 --> 00:55:30,035
thus decides to help Orestes.
487
00:55:32,371 --> 00:55:36,208
And according to Aeschylus' text,
here are her words:
488
00:55:36,875 --> 00:55:39,711
The only solution is for me
to appoint judges.
489
00:55:39,837 --> 00:55:43,006
They will swear an oath,
and the court thus instituted
490
00:55:43,131 --> 00:55:46,385
will forever have authority.
491
00:55:46,677 --> 00:55:49,137
You, gather your evidence,
492
00:55:49,429 --> 00:55:51,557
your witnesses bound by oath,
493
00:55:51,849 --> 00:55:56,019
I will return, bringing with me
the best men in the city,
494
00:55:56,144 --> 00:56:00,232
for them to issue their serene,
impartial judgement.
495
00:56:01,650 --> 00:56:04,361
The first elections in history, then -
496
00:56:04,486 --> 00:56:09,241
represented imaginatively
by the first elections in independent Africa.
497
00:56:13,829 --> 00:56:15,956
Here we are before the court,
498
00:56:16,081 --> 00:56:18,166
in reality the court of Dar es Salaam,
499
00:56:18,917 --> 00:56:21,461
where Orestes will be judged.
500
00:56:22,462 --> 00:56:26,008
Citizens of Athens,
hear what I have decided.
501
00:56:26,383 --> 00:56:29,720
You who, the first in the world,
have judged a crime.
502
00:56:30,178 --> 00:56:32,556
From now on and forever, this people
503
00:56:32,973 --> 00:56:35,934
will have the right to its own assembly.
504
00:56:36,226 --> 00:56:41,189
With these words, Athena institutes
the first elections of history,
505
00:56:41,565 --> 00:56:45,402
and continues:
May neither anarchy nor tyranny
506
00:56:45,694 --> 00:56:49,281
govern you, citizens.
But do not fully banish authority.
507
00:56:49,781 --> 00:56:52,576
Nobody does his duty without some fear.
508
00:56:52,701 --> 00:56:55,370
If you always respect this order,
509
00:56:55,495 --> 00:56:58,248
you will live in peace within your walls,
510
00:56:58,373 --> 00:57:01,126
like no other people in the world.
511
00:57:01,376 --> 00:57:05,464
The assembly I am now founding will
stay incorruptible, revered, pure,
512
00:57:05,589 --> 00:57:08,050
guarding the country's peace.
513
00:57:08,175 --> 00:57:11,970
This is my wish for you, citizens,
for the future as well.
514
00:57:12,095 --> 00:57:15,682
Now rise, cast your ballots,
515
00:57:15,933 --> 00:57:19,102
and make your judgement,
faithful to your oaths.
516
00:57:21,855 --> 00:57:23,941
Thus Orestes is judged.
517
00:57:24,066 --> 00:57:28,612
The Furies accuse him in the name
of the ancient, archaic, feudal world,
518
00:57:28,904 --> 00:57:31,239
the religious world.
519
00:57:33,075 --> 00:57:35,869
Athena defends him,
and Orestes is absolved.
520
00:57:43,335 --> 00:57:46,505
Now the question I want to ask you
is not a serious one,
521
00:57:46,630 --> 00:57:50,634
it's funny. Answer it as you like,
maybe even with a joke.
522
00:57:50,842 --> 00:57:53,595
This is the question:
you have seen a young man
523
00:57:53,720 --> 00:57:55,973
leaving his ancient world,
524
00:57:56,640 --> 00:57:58,892
with its old gods, its old beliefs,
525
00:57:59,017 --> 00:58:02,688
as a chief's son, since Agamemnon
is basically a tribal chief.
526
00:58:02,813 --> 00:58:06,191
He arrives and experiences
the western, modern world:
527
00:58:06,316 --> 00:58:10,153
law courts, big buildings, hotels,
and above all the university.
528
00:58:10,278 --> 00:58:12,322
You are university students, so...
529
00:58:12,447 --> 00:58:14,658
The question I want to ask you is this:
530
00:58:14,783 --> 00:58:17,577
Do you feel a little like you are Orestes?
531
00:58:22,916 --> 00:58:28,046
Yes, because we came here to study,
to discover the western world.
532
00:58:28,839 --> 00:58:32,217
Now we have - how do you say it?
533
00:58:32,342 --> 00:58:35,679
We have discovered many things
in terms of civilisation,
534
00:58:36,430 --> 00:58:40,100
in terms of progress, of study.
535
00:58:40,392 --> 00:58:43,061
I mean, how to put it...
536
00:58:43,186 --> 00:58:48,316
Orestes was a man
who discovered something.
537
00:58:48,734 --> 00:58:50,402
So...
538
00:58:51,820 --> 00:58:55,991
in a way we could represent Orestes.
539
00:58:59,369 --> 00:59:03,081
So you think you might
resemble this character
540
00:59:03,206 --> 00:59:06,418
because you have been pushed
into an era of knowledge,
541
00:59:06,543 --> 00:59:09,963
satisfying this need for knowledge
in a different world.
542
00:59:10,213 --> 00:59:11,923
I would say that...
543
00:59:12,132 --> 00:59:15,260
As my colleague put it,
we feel like Orestes,
544
00:59:15,385 --> 00:59:19,723
but not all of us are
the sons of a tribal chief.
545
00:59:21,183 --> 00:59:22,726
No.
546
00:59:22,851 --> 00:59:25,062
We can go abroad,
547
00:59:25,187 --> 00:59:29,649
or we have discovered
western civilisation...
548
00:59:30,150 --> 00:59:32,611
We have come here to study.
549
00:59:33,236 --> 00:59:38,283
Maybe one of us might be
the son of a tribal chief.
550
00:59:38,575 --> 00:59:42,829
But in a way yes, we are all, well...
551
00:59:44,247 --> 00:59:48,585
Orestes. We can represent Orestes.
It's just the tribal chiefs...
552
00:59:48,710 --> 00:59:51,671
You don't have a tribal chief
in every family.
553
00:59:54,174 --> 00:59:57,636
I spoke of tribal chiefs to say
that Agamemnon was a chief.
554
00:59:57,761 --> 01:00:01,556
Anyway, all of you, in general,
or at least in 90% of cases,
555
01:00:01,848 --> 01:00:04,601
come from a family
with certain possibilities.
556
01:00:04,935 --> 01:00:09,689
Or this conception could give you
the conception of a person who is...
557
01:00:09,898 --> 01:00:14,653
tired of his life, and who wants
to explore a new world,
558
01:00:14,778 --> 01:00:17,364
who wants to discover a new civilisation.
559
01:00:17,697 --> 01:00:20,408
Who wants to improve, let's say.
560
01:00:21,118 --> 01:00:25,205
For me, anyway, it could give rise
to this conception, to this idea.
561
01:00:27,833 --> 01:00:31,378
Your first answer seems to imply that
562
01:00:31,503 --> 01:00:34,297
by coming, like Orestes,
to a modern world,
563
01:00:35,215 --> 01:00:39,136
you are discovering something new and,
in a way, positive.
564
01:00:39,261 --> 01:00:43,598
But are you sure that everything you see
in the western world is positive,
565
01:00:43,723 --> 01:00:45,433
and what you have left behind is not?
566
01:00:46,560 --> 01:00:50,480
I don't think the world we have left behind
is completely negative.
567
01:00:50,605 --> 01:00:55,277
Our resemblance to Orestes is rather...
568
01:00:56,236 --> 01:00:58,530
Let's call it a formal one.
569
01:00:59,489 --> 01:01:02,284
We haven't come
to discover a better world.
570
01:01:02,993 --> 01:01:05,996
We are discovering a new world,
which has...
571
01:01:06,705 --> 01:01:09,374
Some better properties, not...
572
01:01:09,791 --> 01:01:14,629
I think that Orestes' experience
573
01:01:16,006 --> 01:01:17,883
in the western world
574
01:01:18,008 --> 01:01:22,095
could be useful in the case that,
when he went home for example,
575
01:01:23,096 --> 01:01:25,390
he was not able to combine,
576
01:01:26,391 --> 01:01:29,644
or to assimilate his experience
577
01:01:30,312 --> 01:01:33,023
with the ancient ways of his home.
578
01:01:33,148 --> 01:01:35,233
For example, what I mean is...
579
01:01:36,276 --> 01:01:39,237
Cultural alienation.
He shouldn't be alienated.
580
01:01:39,362 --> 01:01:42,032
If he is alienated, in that case,
581
01:01:42,741 --> 01:01:45,827
his coming to the western world
would be negative.
582
01:01:46,369 --> 01:01:48,246
He would need to -
583
01:01:48,788 --> 01:01:52,834
transpose, but in a more human way,
584
01:01:52,959 --> 01:01:56,838
what he learnt in the western world
to his home.
585
01:01:57,631 --> 01:02:02,052
This seems to me a very just,
intelligent observation. I want to ask you:
586
01:02:02,344 --> 01:02:06,097
If the way of not being alienated
by consumer society,
587
01:02:06,223 --> 01:02:08,266
by modern western society,
588
01:02:08,391 --> 01:02:10,769
could be given to him by the fact
589
01:02:10,894 --> 01:02:12,562
of being African?
590
01:02:12,687 --> 01:02:16,483
I mean by opposing
the western form of knowledge
591
01:02:16,608 --> 01:02:18,985
with his own original soul,
592
01:02:19,236 --> 01:02:23,448
which means that the things he learns
do not become consumerist notions,
593
01:02:23,573 --> 01:02:25,992
but rather personal, real notions.
594
01:02:26,243 --> 01:02:29,746
I didn't understand the question
very well, but I think that
595
01:02:29,871 --> 01:02:31,665
what he learnt -
596
01:02:32,374 --> 01:02:36,419
for example, could help him to -
597
01:02:36,544 --> 01:02:40,924
deepen the ancient knowledge.
598
01:02:41,675 --> 01:02:46,930
I mean from the rural environment
he used to live in.
599
01:02:47,264 --> 01:02:49,808
This leads me to the second question:
600
01:02:50,016 --> 01:02:52,686
The film finishes, as I told you,
601
01:02:52,811 --> 01:02:56,273
with the transformation
of the Furies into Eumenides.
602
01:02:56,564 --> 01:02:58,316
And this is a kind of synthesis.
603
01:02:58,608 --> 01:03:00,151
How could you represent
604
01:03:00,402 --> 01:03:03,154
the transformation of Furies into Eumenides?
605
01:03:04,614 --> 01:03:07,784
I don't know. This transformation...
606
01:03:08,243 --> 01:03:10,287
Like that, from one into the other -
607
01:03:10,412 --> 01:03:14,040
I don't think it can be
completely achieved.
608
01:03:14,165 --> 01:03:16,626
Because both one and the other exist.
609
01:03:16,751 --> 01:03:21,214
And they will always exist, I think.
Because African man, fundamentally...
610
01:03:21,715 --> 01:03:23,425
is a man who is so...
611
01:03:25,260 --> 01:03:29,055
who has a very profound interior life.
612
01:03:29,306 --> 01:03:30,974
A very profound spirit.
613
01:03:31,099 --> 01:03:33,101
So when you talk of Furies
614
01:03:33,226 --> 01:03:35,312
which change into...
615
01:03:36,563 --> 01:03:38,815
- Eumenides.
- Into Eumenides.
616
01:03:38,940 --> 01:03:41,318
I don't know. You could probably...
617
01:03:41,943 --> 01:03:45,113
Create Eumenides
without the Furies disappearing.
618
01:03:46,114 --> 01:03:49,200
I don't think they could
completely disappear.
619
01:03:52,662 --> 01:03:55,248
My film will be very appropriate.
620
01:03:55,498 --> 01:03:57,876
As we've seen, 1960:
621
01:03:58,293 --> 01:04:01,171
the year in which most African states,
622
01:04:01,296 --> 01:04:05,467
in just a few years, make up for a delay
623
01:04:05,592 --> 01:04:10,388
you might say, of centuries or millenia,
by achieving independence and democracy.
624
01:04:10,513 --> 01:04:12,849
Even the conclusion must be dated,
625
01:04:12,974 --> 01:04:16,936
I mean it must refer to
the African ideology of those years,
626
01:04:17,187 --> 01:04:21,191
which probably had its symbol in Senghor,
the president of Senegal.
627
01:04:21,316 --> 01:04:24,819
This is the idea that the new Africa,
the Africa of the future,
628
01:04:24,944 --> 01:04:26,654
must be a synthesis
629
01:04:26,863 --> 01:04:29,282
of modern, independent, free Africa,
630
01:04:29,574 --> 01:04:31,451
and of ancient Africa.
631
01:04:40,835 --> 01:04:43,380
How can I represent this transformation
632
01:04:43,505 --> 01:04:45,590
of the Furies into Eumenides?
633
01:04:46,466 --> 01:04:48,635
Filming with my camera
634
01:04:48,760 --> 01:04:51,137
along the streets of Tanzania and Uganda,
635
01:04:51,262 --> 01:04:56,017
I stopped here, for example,
in this small village lost in the savannah.
636
01:04:56,267 --> 01:04:58,561
We are with the Wagogo tribe,
637
01:04:58,686 --> 01:05:02,982
one of the many tribes making up
the nation of Tanzania.
638
01:05:03,316 --> 01:05:05,568
And I filmed this dance.
639
01:05:06,319 --> 01:05:08,196
This ancient dance -
640
01:05:08,321 --> 01:05:11,699
ancient, so to say - let's say,
up to just a few years ago -
641
01:05:11,825 --> 01:05:13,535
was, of course, a rite,
642
01:05:13,660 --> 01:05:16,287
with a precise, religious meaning,
643
01:05:16,413 --> 01:05:18,498
perhaps even cosmogonic meaning.
644
01:05:19,124 --> 01:05:22,168
Now, though, as you see, the Wagogo people
645
01:05:22,293 --> 01:05:26,589
in the same places where they once performed
this dance in earnest,
646
01:05:26,714 --> 01:05:30,135
imitate it, in jest, to divert themselves,
647
01:05:30,260 --> 01:05:32,929
divesting these gestures, these movements,
648
01:05:33,054 --> 01:05:35,181
of their ancient sacred meaning
649
01:05:35,306 --> 01:05:37,642
and making them almost out of pure joy.
650
01:05:39,227 --> 01:05:41,688
Here is a metaphor of what might be
651
01:05:41,813 --> 01:05:44,899
the transformation of the Furies
into Eumenides.
652
01:05:47,402 --> 01:05:49,779
Let us reread Aeschylus' text once more.
653
01:05:49,904 --> 01:05:54,117
The Furies, as soon as Orestes
has been absolved, scream in pain,
654
01:05:54,409 --> 01:05:56,619
their sacredness has been offended.
655
01:05:56,744 --> 01:05:58,580
They protest against Athena.
656
01:05:58,705 --> 01:06:01,875
And Athena tries to convince them,
with these words:
657
01:06:02,542 --> 01:06:06,129
I understand your anger.
You are older than me.
658
01:06:06,671 --> 01:06:08,965
But though your experience is greater,
659
01:06:09,090 --> 01:06:11,885
God has given me the gift of reason.
660
01:06:13,386 --> 01:06:17,348
Go, go, leave for another land,
but you will weep for this one.
661
01:06:17,807 --> 01:06:22,061
I know that the days to come
will bring greatness to my people,
662
01:06:22,353 --> 01:06:25,690
and if you are here,
in the glorious centre of this city,
663
01:06:25,815 --> 01:06:29,360
you will see processions of men
and women bringing you gifts
664
01:06:29,569 --> 01:06:32,322
like no other people in the world can do.
665
01:06:34,657 --> 01:06:38,203
The Furies let themselves be convinced
by Athena's words,
666
01:06:39,412 --> 01:06:43,166
and agree to co-exist with her,
the goddess of reason -
667
01:06:43,291 --> 01:06:45,627
they, the goddesses of irrationality,
668
01:06:45,835 --> 01:06:47,504
in the new world.
669
01:06:48,087 --> 01:06:51,382
In the new, independent,
democratic, free world.
670
01:07:34,384 --> 01:07:38,012
Here we are in Dodoma,
a city in the heart of Tanganyika.
671
01:07:39,889 --> 01:07:42,392
And here we are in
the centre of a situation
672
01:07:42,517 --> 01:07:46,980
which, like the dance of the Wagogo,
could very well represent poetically,
673
01:07:47,605 --> 01:07:51,776
metaphorically, the transformation
of the Furies into Eumenides.
674
01:07:51,901 --> 01:07:54,696
In the very sense that
I was referring to before.
675
01:07:55,071 --> 01:07:57,073
Indeed, these hair-styles,
676
01:07:57,532 --> 01:07:59,325
this way of walking,
677
01:07:59,450 --> 01:08:01,869
these dancing scenes, these gestures,
678
01:08:01,995 --> 01:08:04,080
these tattoos on the face,
679
01:08:04,205 --> 01:08:07,000
are all signs of an ancient,
magical world.
680
01:08:07,834 --> 01:08:11,045
Here is a symbol which still today
681
01:08:11,337 --> 01:08:13,631
remains chilling and sinister.
682
01:08:17,844 --> 01:08:20,972
But this magical world appears here,
as you can see,
683
01:08:21,598 --> 01:08:25,184
as a tradition, an ancient spirit,
684
01:08:25,518 --> 01:08:28,646
an autochtonous spirit that
does not want to be lost.
685
01:08:29,480 --> 01:08:32,108
Here, we are watching a wedding ceremony,
686
01:08:32,233 --> 01:08:36,904
and all these people dressed luxuriously,
in their finest clothes,
687
01:08:37,322 --> 01:08:39,532
are going to celebrate the newly-weds.
688
01:08:45,872 --> 01:08:49,584
Here is the mattress on which
the newly-weds will sleep.
689
01:08:53,421 --> 01:08:55,340
Dancing gaily and loosely,
690
01:08:55,465 --> 01:08:58,760
the procession nears
the house of the newly-weds.
691
01:09:01,679 --> 01:09:04,140
In an inner courtyard,
here are some women,
692
01:09:04,265 --> 01:09:06,809
hired of course,
693
01:09:06,934 --> 01:09:12,148
who, even more than the others,
stand for the ancient spirit I mentioned.
694
01:09:14,609 --> 01:09:17,403
Here, this could very well be, in my film,
695
01:09:17,945 --> 01:09:20,490
the Furies transformed into Eumenides.
696
01:09:20,615 --> 01:09:25,578
But let us hear again the words
that Athena addresses to the Furies,
697
01:09:25,703 --> 01:09:28,122
as soon as they have been transformed.
698
01:09:28,873 --> 01:09:31,417
I express my rush of love for this city
699
01:09:32,710 --> 01:09:35,672
by welcoming you here as patrons.
700
01:09:35,797 --> 01:09:38,966
Great, restless, mysterious powers.
701
01:09:40,176 --> 01:09:42,428
You will guide all human relationships.
702
01:09:43,429 --> 01:09:46,724
Whoever does not understand
that it is right to welcome in
703
01:09:46,849 --> 01:09:48,726
these immortal deities,
704
01:09:48,976 --> 01:09:51,437
does not understand life's contrasts.
705
01:09:52,146 --> 01:09:55,942
And the barbary of the fathers,
which is atoned for before them,
706
01:09:56,567 --> 01:09:58,319
and an unwise sense of calm,
707
01:09:58,611 --> 01:10:01,197
despite the cries of his conscience,
708
01:10:01,698 --> 01:10:04,492
can lead him to dark ruin.
709
01:10:08,287 --> 01:10:12,291
Here however we are
in the inner courtyard of the house.
710
01:10:12,750 --> 01:10:15,378
As you can see,
a more modern party is underway.
711
01:10:15,503 --> 01:10:19,173
A party similar to those in Europe,
to any wedding party
712
01:10:19,424 --> 01:10:21,676
you might see in our culture as well.
713
01:10:24,762 --> 01:10:27,598
But here as well,
with these modern attitudes
714
01:10:28,474 --> 01:10:30,351
with this modern music,
715
01:10:30,476 --> 01:10:34,188
you can sense that
the ancient spirit I spoke of endures.
716
01:10:34,981 --> 01:10:36,983
It is transformed, as you see,
717
01:10:37,567 --> 01:10:40,069
into desire for happiness, celebration,
718
01:10:40,278 --> 01:10:42,447
into grace, lightness,
719
01:10:43,072 --> 01:10:45,950
traits very typical of the African spirit.
720
01:10:50,997 --> 01:10:55,793
There is a great freedom,
a great openness to the future, in Africa.
721
01:11:12,894 --> 01:11:16,939
These are the gifts that the guests
bring to the newly-weds.
722
01:11:19,233 --> 01:11:22,153
We are outside the door
of the newly-weds' house,
723
01:11:23,029 --> 01:11:26,032
and the guests continue
to bring them their gifts,
724
01:11:26,157 --> 01:11:29,118
picturesquely and with great elegance.
725
01:11:54,852 --> 01:11:57,313
Here are useful notes
for a conclusion.
726
01:11:59,857 --> 01:12:02,151
The new world is established.
727
01:12:02,276 --> 01:12:05,696
The power to decide its own fate,
at least formally,
728
01:12:06,113 --> 01:12:07,990
is in the hands of the people.
729
01:12:08,324 --> 01:12:10,409
The ancient, primordial divinities
730
01:12:10,785 --> 01:12:14,664
co-exist with the new world
of reason and freedom.
731
01:12:16,499 --> 01:12:18,125
But how to conclude?
732
01:12:19,043 --> 01:12:21,587
Well, there is no ultimate conclusion.
733
01:12:21,712 --> 01:12:23,339
It is suspended.
734
01:12:24,924 --> 01:12:30,012
A new nation is born;
its problems are infinite.
735
01:12:31,556 --> 01:12:35,101
But problems are not resolved,
they are experienced.
736
01:12:36,143 --> 01:12:37,854
And life is slow.
737
01:12:38,521 --> 01:12:41,148
Going towards the future
738
01:12:41,440 --> 01:12:43,901
cannot have its solution in continuity.
739
01:12:45,695 --> 01:12:47,321
The work of a people
740
01:12:47,613 --> 01:12:50,575
knows neither rhetoric nor delay.
741
01:12:51,617 --> 01:12:55,204
Its future is in its fear of the future.
742
01:12:56,789 --> 01:13:00,042
And its fear is a great patience.
58451
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