Sleeping Sickness

source: Sleeping Sickness

"Schlafkrankheit" is a 2011 film about a family of White people working as development workers in Africa. They run into exotic illnesses, but also into everyday problems in normal life just like we do. It's written and directed by Ulrich Kühler who included some autobiographical events from his childhood here. The lead actor is Pierre Bokma and as he is French just like most of the other cast members, the main language here is French. I was never really entertained watching this film. It's not bad by any means, but I am a bit surprised these 90 minutes received quite a few accolades, for example with the German Film Critics Circle or at the Berlin Film Festival. As a whole, I would not recommend this movie. There are many other German and French films out there which are more worth the watch.

This is one of the best movie ever made on Africa. There is a lot of the personal experience of the author, but the subtle is elsewhere. On the first degree the viewer should just let himself dive into the African landscape. This is the true Africa. Nothing in common with the Hollywoodian and fake landscape of Blood Diamond. On the second degree the movie is mute. No strong sentence, scarce references (the scene on the structural adjustment defended by a IMF specialist) and as it seems very diluted story. I found the beauty of the movie to be at a higher level. This is a story about the root of misunderstanding between Europe and Africa. A European character become a 'real' African, a 'fou d'Afrique", completely misunderstood by a French of African ascent. The movie is about the culture clash which has nothing to do with the colour of the skin. You should look at the movie with this in mind. Absolutely brilliant!

It is an art movie. Africa, the first thing pop out into our mind is jungles and wild animals. Whole story takes place in different remote areas of an African country, Cameroon. Where European doctors sent to treat the people who are suffering from sleeping sickness. Lot like the story divides into two episodes, one was about the European doctors and their life style far from home and their relationship with family and people around them. The second one shows the beauty of the true Africas natural environment. There is a tiny twist at the end like a commercial movies. This movie is not for everyone but definitely feel good movie!

Like so many European (especially German) movies produced in the last few years, this one adopts a minimalistic approach leading the director to tell his story in the flattest and most superficial way possible. Instead of exploring the characters' personalities and the movie's topic - the misguided projects set up by Western institutions to relieve destitute Negro populations - the film lingers forever on the characters' everyday routine, with no powerful situation or strong dialog, scarce references and an extremely diluted story. The outcome is one and a half hour of meaninglessness and boredom. Behind the intentional refusal of letting anything of interest happen, or explaining anything, there probably rests the idea of encouraging the proactive viewer to form his own judgment. While I like forming independent thoughts, I see no reason why a movie, or any form of artistic expression, should restrain itself to such extremes of tediousness, or communicate with the public with only vague hints and half-formed suggestions set on a background of drabbest quotidianity. Yet, that's probably what the enthralled critics and a snotty, stuck-up public like in this garbage: its very indeterminateness allows them to weave their webs of interpretations with absolute freedom -- to bloviate endlessly with no fear of denial or contradiction. Which is what art finally stands for: an everlasting flood of words. The only remarkable thing in this half-baked mush is the well-drawn comparison between the efficient, morally-conscious European way of life and the drowsy, slothful African attitude -- perfectly mirrored in the change occurring to the main character between the first and the second part of the movie. However, the director's decision of choosing a Negro actor in the role of the doctor who travels to Africa to evaluate the local situation shrinks the comparison to the level of mere cultural relations and is rooted in anti-Racist bigotry. In the end, 'Sleeping sickness' is quite artsy and fashionable, and for these very reasons it is a terrible, truly uninteresting movie.

Schlafkrankheit