One man’s dash through country in crisis
|||RUN
DIRECTOR: Philippe Lacôte
CAST: Isaach de Bankolé, Abdoul Karim Konaté, Reine Sali Doulibaly, Rasmané Ouédraogo, Alexandre Desane, Adélaïde Ouattara and Stéphane Sebime
CLASSIFICATION: 13 V
RUNNING TIME: 96 minutes
RATING: 4 stars (out of 5)
Theresa Smith
USING magical realism sparingly, but effectively, Run is the story of one young man’s contemporary experience of life in the Cote d’Ivoire.
An orphan, Run (played Abdoul Bah as a teenager) has dreams of becoming a rainmaker, but finds out early on the ethically correct path is not always the right one to follow. He gains the monikor “Run” when it is pointed out that he is constantly running, never still, always on the move just to survive.
The film starts with Run (played as an adult by Konaté) literally assassinating the prime minister of Cote d’Ivoire, disguised as a madman living on the streets. He escapes and makes it back to his friend, Assa (Bankole), and once his mission is done, he starts remembering how he got to this point.
The film shifts back and forth as his life comes back in flashes, giving us his contemporary movements, but also showing how he ends up living as a madman on the streets, waiting for his chance to kill the president.
Phillip Lacôte’s movie is less about the politics of the Cote d’Ivoire and more about what it feels like having to make a living despite the uncertainty caused by their most recent civil war. It gives you a feel for life in the city – the dance clubs, the protests, the gangsterism and corruption, the eating exhibitions. Yes, he travels for a while with Super Gladys (Doulibaby), a professional eater who thinks Ivorians are liked spoilt children who don’t know what to do with money other than play, play, play.
Life with her comes to an abrupt end and Run finds himself swept up into a patriotic movement which exploits the anger of people who are sick of foreigners taking their jobs, but somehow is also all about protecting the prime minister’s position. It is murky, but a lot of Run’s life seems to be about things that happen to him and how he simply gets swept up into the actions of others. He has very little agency over his own existence and describes his life as “sand in a child’s fist. All those I love slip away”.
Everywhere he turns, every time something interesting happens to him, violence ensues and there is a fair amount of male posturing to be seen in the film.
Every time he tries to be creative or starts to learn about positive emotions like loyalty, violence intervenes which makes Run a stand in of sorts for the situation in his country. He cannot escape his past, no matter how fast he runs, no matter how desperately he casts about for an alternative.
Though it jumps about in time, the story remains coherent and while it plays out as a total piece of fiction, there is a scarily clinical documentary feel to what you see. At no point does Lacôte provide Run an alternative, he simply paints a picture, creating a character piece that is unsettling, yet fascinating.
If you liked Viva, Riva! you will like this.