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Touki Bouki

Touki Bouki

1973
Drama
1h 25m
Mory, a cowherd who rides a motorcycle mounted with a cow's skull, and Anta, a university student, have met in Dakar, Senegal's capital. Alienated and disaffected with Senegal and Africa, they long to go to Paris and work up different con schemes to raise the money. (imdb)
Your probable score
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Touki Bouki

1973
Drama
1h 25m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 56.83% from 277 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(277)
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Rated 18 May 2009
77
51st
The editing really makes the film, it's linear and yet has a surreal quality that blurs the timeline just enough to evoke an appropriate confusion. While the African sensibilities meant that I didn't get a lot of references and symbolism the general driving force of youthful hope, despair and confusion is relateable and well done. It's a very well shot film despite the raw style with some very memorable images, though one should be warned that there are a couple of scenes of animal slaughter.
Rated 10 Jan 2011
79
64th
An array of startlingly modern techniques, bringing to mind Ghatak, Jodorowsky, Godard, Bonnie and Clyde and The Harder They Come. It all combines in a wholly fascinating and enchanting piece of work that practically demands repeat viewings. The two leads are excellent, radiating with charismatic screen presence. Wonderful use of music as well, particularly the repeated Josephine Baker song, beckoning our heroes to Paris. A couple of the comic bits are on the dumb side, but otherwise I loved it.
Rated 08 Oct 2009
56
29th
Important more anthropologically than filmically. It's narrative and execution felt like a bit of Fando y Lis and a bit of Breathless; problem is, what little happened in the film took forever to get there. And while I appreciate the sensibility of a world where sex, death and life are seamlessly intertwined, I would have liked that cohesion throughout the film and not in just its individual moments.
Rated 12 Feb 2014
81
59th
An incredible film, though the brief glimpses of Mambety's homophobia are hard to ignore.
Rated 31 Oct 2014
4
52nd
er, not sure what to rate this one. some say mambety is like a senegalese godard, cutting and chopping obscure references through picture and sound to create a montage of both personal and political alienation. well, perhaps, but i can't dismiss the feeling that much of it was utterly inept, even though it definitely got better as its themes became clearer. so this score is quite uncertain. perhaps i'll rewatch some time. if so, i might skip the two brutally explicit scenes of animal slaughter.
Rated 05 Aug 2015
86
96th
If you can get past the animal slaughter and other blunt symbolism, you'll find the most visually sophisticated African film I can think of. The deep colors, bright sunshine, and seaside feeling turn the story's forlornness into highlife. It's tangible and abstract like Werner Herzog's work.
Rated 24 Oct 2022
81
57th
Cool!!!! I believe this is my first ever African film and it’s a fantastic one to start with. Although the story is fairly typical the storytelling is so electric, clearly New Wave inspired but putting its own spin on it.
Rated 09 Mar 2023
3
9th
I’m not easily annoyed by arthouse films but this one really took the cake. There’s almost an arrogance to how badly edited this movie is, as if Mambéty declaring to the world: “lo and behold how I’ve assembled images, dialogue and music with no coherent structure whatsoever.” Whatever story he was trying to tell is trapped under the weight of its stylistic hubris.
Rated 02 Mar 2008
57
31st
# 863
Rated 02 Dec 2011
57
14th
#867
Rated 23 Aug 2012
30
6th
afrika, senegal, fransaya gitmek istemek, yolculuk icin para bulmaya calismak, bul karayi al parayi, soygun, escinsel karakter, kurban, kesimhane, müstehcen, uzun planlar, kötü oyunculuk
Rated 19 Dec 2008
57
14th
859
Rated 15 Jan 2010
58
16th
837
Rated 19 Jan 2015
84
88th
Her şeyiyle başyapıt düzeyinde bir Üçüncü Sinema örneği. Özellikle, teknik imkansızlıklarla yapıldığı belli olan böylesi bir filmde, tam anlamıyla usta işi bir kurguyla karşılaşmak hep hoş bir sürpriz oldu, hem de sinemaya olan inancımı tazeledi.
Rated 21 May 2018
85
66th
Pleasantly stylish if a bit difficult to follow. Sound (both music and ambient) is excellent. Will likely benefit from multiple viewings.
Rated 07 Jul 2019
75
68th
my thoughts on tarzan exactly
Rated 23 May 2020
60
51st
This is a rough movie both with its execution and to watch. I appreciated it more as a time capsule than anything else.
Rated 29 Jun 2021
95
95th
stunning. the colour and framing in this film is brilliantly compounded with an engaging narrative with philosophical twists. CW on a fair bit of animal death.
Rated 05 Aug 2022
53
12th
This was interesting at times--the sound design gets interesting sometimes and there are some good scenes, but ultimately it didn't do much for me. It's not bad but feels kind of disorganized at times to a fault. Note: There are some EXTREMELY gory scenes of animal slaughter in the film, especially in the first third but also another scene later, if that's a total no go for you.
Rated 23 Mar 2022
5
81st
Yes I can see the Godard influence in the cow slaughter scenes
Rated 14 Dec 2022
60
35th
At first, I thought this was a continuation of Black Girl (1966). But this one had me utterly confused with the dense symbolism, edited in a French New Wave fashion. Not one I'll be rushing to rewatch.
Rated 08 Aug 2023
70
42nd
I can't say I was extremely engaged by this one, but I admired it's spirit quite a bit.

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