Touki Bouki (Journey of the Hyena), the 1973 Sengalese drama film directed by Djibril Dip Mambety, recounts the dilemma of the postcolonial subjects Mory and Anta with the thought of fleeing to France, Senegal’s former colonizer. The movie follows main characters and couple, Mory and Anta, with a non-linear narrative revolving around the journey Dakar and how they aspire to leave to France by stealing everything from a local wealthy homosexual man but when on the Port of Dakar ready to leave, Mory runs back to the city while Anta sails away. Therefore, the film is about rebuilding an identity from the fragmented stories of two young lovers, a cow herder and a university student.
Influenced by the French New Wave, the film followed the low budget characteristic but Mambety innovated his own type of style Throughout the film there was an exploration of cinematic space and the combination of both abstract images and sounds through the use of asynchronous sounds that breed assumptions to the event in the film in which the sound takes a life of its own. Most importantly, the mix of synchronous and asynchronous sounds along with extra diagetic sounds enhances the film to an aural narrative creating this acoustical space. The most representative scene being when Anta is on the edge of a cliff what seems to be by herself but through the sounds and the visual representation of the ocean it is assumed she has climaxed without any explicit or graphic scenes only until she is seen with Mory on the rock is the scene fully grasped.
As well, the city itself is remapped through sound as Mory rides his bike with a cow skull, specifically when riding through the more barren lands of Dakar with the juxtaposition of the background song Paris, Paris by Josephine Baker. But the scenes of the city are juxtapositions in itself as Mambety focuses on street vending, comunal clothes cleaning, and kids carrying buckets of water on their heads while showing the contrasting scenes of city buildings and the motorcycle. In fact, Mory’s story line comes full circle as the movie begins with Mory riding his motorcycle and a young boy runs alongside him in what seems to be running towards this gangster/bad boy lifestyle that welcomes the West. But the film ends with Mory unexpectedly running from his chance to go to the Western country of France with simultaneous flashing scenes of the slaughterhouse, in what seems to be Mory running back to the more native lifestyle.
The film can be seen as part of the Gangster genre due to the roles of the main characters, Mory and Anta. As they both seem out of place in their home town, Mory for being more of a gangster and Anta because she was a university student, both wishing for a better life in the West. Mory rides around with a James Dean Rebel Without A Cause persona to him defined by lawlessness as he escapes his loss when betting, steals money from the event, gets out of trouble by giving a cop a cigarette, and lastly stealing a car and money to flee. While Anta reverses the role of women in gangster films and asserts her powerful character with her remarks and firm decision making. They live this dangerous lifestyle riding around a motorcycle yet there is a lack of affection between the two.
Touki Bouki tells the story of the time people used to dream about going abroad, a dream still present for people in vulnerable situations. But while dreaming of going abroad and to fulfill this illusion of a wealthier, better, and more stable life, they reject their own home environment. But the original thought of moving to the West is a naive one. Going to the West would signify success because the West is thought of the place with immediate wealth and better living. The reality of moving kicked in to Mory before leaving, a reality that kicks into a lot of people when they arrive. The illusion of the perfect life in the West.
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