Macadam tribu

In an early scene a drunk client to whom a bartender would not give another beer because of his already high unpaid bills retorted "You're like the Western imperialists; you finish my resources and now you ask me to pay debts !..." This film mainly visits the theme of uneven distribution of global wealth, though the influence is hardly ever seen directly.

Zeka Laplaine's movie seems halfway between "The Circle of Powers" and "Quartier Mozart", both Cameroonian movies. As often the jobless and idle end up promiscuity and over-drinking. Even the expatriates are quickly contaminated.

The music is brilliant and certainly accompanies story and emotions perfectly. Influenced by Zaire rythms, it is dominated by hits from Papa Wemba,, and the acclaimed Franco accompanied as ever by the Mighty OK Jazz Band are present on the score. Once more music seems to be the perfect spice in Afro-cinema.

I watched this movie during the 2004 Ecrans Noirs Film Festival in Yaounde. There was quite a crowd next-door following a popular Ivorian reggae star. An African movie on reggae music would probably have been more convincing. Who knows!