Tree of Blood

 ((Po di Sangui) (Po di Sangui) (French-Guinea Bissau- Tunisian-Portuguese- Drama-Color))

By DEBORAH YOUNG

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A Les Matins Films (France)-Arco Iris (Guinea Bissau)-Cinetelefilm (Tunisia)-SP Filmes (Portugal)-Lucie Films (France) co-production. (International sales: Mercure Distribution.) Produced by Jean-Pierre Gallepe. Directed by Flora Gomes. Screenplay, Gomes, Anita Fernandez.
 
(Creole dialogue) Dou ... Ramiro Naka Saly ... Edna Evora Calacalado ... Adama Kouyate Antonia ... Bia Gomes Puntcha ... Dadu Cisse Luana ... Dulcenia Bidjanque N'te ... Djuco Bodjan Tree of Blood" is a visually stunning film in the African folk-tale tradition. Guinea Bissau's premier director, Flora Gomes ("Mortu Nega,""Yonta's Blue Eyes") , and producer Jean-Pierre Gallepe have put together a mighty co-production engine involving four countries and numerous European agencies and institutes, for one of the most highly accomplished technical results in African cinema to date. But the tale, which interweaves gods, magic and ecology in an often fascinating, sometimes puzzling way, is bereft of basic human emotions that viewers can relate to, making this ambitious film more of an aesthetic exercise than a moving experience.
 

In the colorful forest village of Amanha Lundju, tradition demands that when a child is born a tree be planted. As the tree grows, it becomes the twin of the growing human being. At the same time, trees are constantly being felled for firewood and buildings, and the threat of organized deforestation by the state hovers ominously.

Dou (Ramiro Naka) returns to the village from his wanderings to learn that his twin brother, Hami, has just died under mysterious circumstances. He has to take on Hami's widow and child, to the dismay of his promised bride, Saly (Edna Evora). Everyone seems to confuse Dou with his dead brother, including his aged, mystical mother. Dou talks to Hami's tree to understand what ails the village, while in a breathtaking silent sequence his mother calls Hami's spirit down from the beyond.

Ominous portents make the witch doctor Calacalado (Adama Kouyate) order the villagers to leave their homes and embark on an exodus into the desert, following the lead of Dou and Saly. The grueling trek takes its toll on the weak and the old. After Saly and other women give birth to babies in the treeless land, Dou orders his people back to Amanha Lundju, where a surprise is waiting for them.

The script, penned by Gomes and Anita Fernandez, has its confusing moments, but its main weakness as far as non-African viewers is concerned is its lack of dramatic structure and strong forward movement. As a result, film seems much longer than it is.

Gomes puts together an often dazzling patchwork of rituals, traditions and folk art, interpreting and aestheticizing them with cinematographer Vincenzo Marano through expressive camera movements and the bold use of color. The faces and bodies of the actors, including leads Naka and young Evora, have a strong carnal presence and a dreamy depth. Other characters, like the powerful, wise witch doctor and Dou's old mother, create memorable archetypes.

"Tree of Blood" owes a visual debt to the work of Mali director Souleymane Cisse, particularly evident in the majesty of the desert and river scenes and breathtaking aerial shots of the African landscape.

Like Cisse, Gomes uses oral storytelling and legends lost in the mists of time to say something universal about African people. One of film's finest scenes is the meeting and mingling of two large tribes in the desert, shot from a godlike overhead perspective.

Glimpses of native artwork and amazing geometrical houses add to the film's high visual quality.

Camera (color), Vincenzo Marano; editor, Christiane Lack; music, Pablo Cueco; art direction, Joseph Kpobly, Etienne Mery; sound, Pierre Donnadieu. Reviewed at Cannes Film Festival (competing), May 10, 1996. Running time: 93 min.