Tasuma is a 2004 comedy-drama directed, written and produced by

Kollo Daniel Sanou Kollo Daniel Sanou (born 1 December 1951) is a Burkinabé film director as well as a screenwriter and producer of both fiction and documentary films. Biography Sanou was born in Borodougou in 1951. He studied at the Institut National des Arts ...

which tells the story of a Burkinabé war veteran who had fought for France abroad returning to his home village.

Plot

Sogo (Mamadou Zerbo) is a war-battered veteran who fought for France in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the Indochina Wars. Due to his bravery and ferocity in battle Sogo has earned the nickname Tasuma (the fire) and fears no one, including government officials. He is also civil-minded and kind-hearted, and has promised the women of his village gasoline-powered mill to grind their millet with the military pension he has earned. Coming home to his childhood village however Sogo finds himself unable to access his pension. After many years of being denied the money which is rightfully his, Sogo returns to his village with a gun in hand. After being sent to jail, the women of the village rally for Sogo to be set free.

Cast

*Mamadou Zerbo (as Sogo) * Aï Keïta *Noufou Ouédraogo (as Papa) *Besani Raoul Kjalil *Serges Henri *Safiatou Sanou *Sonia Karen Sanou *Stanislas Soré

Themes

Although a comedy, the film containers the serious theme of thousands of African soldiers who fought for France in the major wars of the 21st-century but never received the recognition nor the reimbursement they deserved.

Reception

The film was well received by critics, with praise especially for Mamadou Zerbo performance as Sogo. Cinema critic

Dave Kehr David Kehr (born 1953) is an American museum curator and film critic. For many years a critic at the ''Chicago Reader'' and the ''Chicago Tribune,'' he later wrote a weekly column for ''The New York Times'' on DVD releases. He later became a c ...

noted though that the film director Sanou was all to happy to have his film fell back on old tropes of African cinema such as the folkloric theme and the setting of the noble village in opposition to the corrupt outside world. Tasuma was released in the U.S. on DVD in 2007 as a double-feature with another Burkinabé film, ''

Sia, le rêve du python ''Sia, The Dream of the Python'' (french: Sia, le rêve du python) is a 2001 film by Burkina Faso-based filmmaker Dani Kouyaté. Plot Kaya Maghan, the despotic king of Wagadou, follows the instructions of his priest by ordering the religio ...

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References

External links

*{{IMDb title, tt0423325 2004 films Burkinabé comedy films 2000s French-language films Films set in Burkina Faso 2004 comedy-drama films 2004 comedy films 2004 drama films Burkinabé drama films