Oscar-nominated, Mauritania-born director Abderrahmane Sissako embarks on an ambitious adventure between Ivory Coast and Cape Verde to China with his latest production, “Black Tea.” Berlinale blogger Ahmed Shawky reviewed the film for RUYA.
Director Abderrahmane Sissako was born in Mauritania, emigrated with his family to Mali, then moved to Moscow to study cinema, all before embarking on his directing career. This took him to France, where he obtained citizenship, as well as serving as the president’s cultural advisor back home in Mauritania.This is just a snapshot of Sissako’s busy life, that of an artist open to the world, to life and to freely making his films. Yet his last production was a full decade ago in 2014, when his feature film “Timbuktu” was nominated for an Oscar. After this long hiatus, today he is back, with a film that reflects his ongoing ambition to make films with universal appeal. The story of Black Tea unfolds between Côte d’Ivoire and Cape Verde, in West Africa, and far to the east, in China.
A love story between cultures
A young Ivorian woman in a wedding dress sits at a collective wedding, waiting for her turn for the priest to tie her in wedlock. But at the altar, she drops a bombshell: she refuses to go through with the marriage, and runs away. Some time passes, and we find her somewhere completely different. The heroine, Aya, has found her way to the Chinese city of Guangzhou. She lives in a neighbourhood inhabited by African immigrants, and works in a tea boutique owned by a middle-aged man. She falls in love with him, and through him, learns about tea culture in China.This summarises the plot of Sissako’s film, based on a screenplay he co-wrote with Kessen Fatoumata Tall. In doing so, the director took on more than one challenge: shooting a film in a country where he has not lived, half of its scenes in a language he does not speak, and trying to express something by nature invisible: the taste of tea and its sensory significance. What is more, the scenes supposedly set in Guangzhou were actually filmed in Taiwan, introducing visual differences easily identified by an experienced viewer.
Strong beginning, but disappointing in the end
I regret to say that “Black Tea” fell short of its creator’s goals. It has a strong beginning, which attracts us to Aya’s character and makes us wonder why she refused to get married; then it throws us into a different world about which we naturally want to know more. Yet beyond this point, the narrative slides inexorably into a trap of monotony and stagnation.Aymeric Pilarski’s brilliant camerawork, better suited to advertising than to cinema, the lingering pace of most scenes, and a drama in which problems are solved quickly through calm, rational dialogue, make the film difficult to respond to emotionally. Moreover, there is little harmony or chemistry between the main actors, Nina Mélo and Chang Han, who are supposedly in a love relationship that transcends colour, culture and language. All this makes it difficult for the film to hit home with viewers, even Sissako’s loyal fans such as myself.
“Black Tea” is a co-production involving France, Mauritania, Luxembourg, Taiwan and Côte d’Ivoire, funded by a long list of countries and bodies keen to support the veteran director’s dream of telling an unusual story. However, it is hard to imagine that the final product will attract significant audiences in most of these countries.
Just as the Berlinale entertains us with new films by great directors and introduces us to exciting young talents, it sometimes frustrates us with disappointing cinematic experiences by artists we hold in high esteem. This was the case with Abderrahmane Sissako’s new film. It left me with just one feeling: a hope that the great Mauritanian will not wait another 10 years before making a film that will surpass “Black Tea”.
February 2024