Touki Bouki is a 1973 movie directed by Djibril Diop Mambety.
Touki Bouki or Journey of the Hyena tells the story of two Sengalese youth who want to leave their homeland for Paris. They scheme ways to raise money for their departure – which often appears more of a dream than reality.
A fascinating experiment of movie making, Touki Bouki is an irreverent, dreamy dissection of post-colonialism Senegal. While the characters seek Paris, the New Wave influence of Godard is already felt throughout the movie.
A delineation is immediately highlighted by the two leads – Magaye Niang’s Mory is a cowherd and Myriam Niang’s Ante a University student. Each is non-traditional – Mory is chastised for riding his bullhorn adorned motorcycle and Ante is villified for seeking education.
The opening scene dives further into this separation. A cow is brutally slaughtered – its arteries ripped open and drained into a pool of blood. It’s a wrenching scene but easily representative of Senegal’s rural, Colonial roots – the place and history Mory and Ante want to flee.
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