Teza

 

Teza 2008

• Director: Haile Gerima
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Aaron Arefe, Abiye Tedla,
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in: none of them
• Why? Something different. It got many awards and good reviews.
• Seen: 19 March 2021      

       The physician Anberber returns to his home village in Ethiopia after many years in Germany. The country is at war, again. Childhood memories and memories from Germany weave in and out of the present. He feels alienated everywhere. There is, and was, political intrigue, betrayal, love and loss, conflicting loyalties, racism, violence.

       It is a complex film about an individual caught in the upheaval of Ethiopia’s modern history. It’s slow and there is too much emphasis on the natural beauty of the nature. It’s the kind of film I expected to like more than I did.  Arefe is good as Anberber, but the film as a whole is still somewhat of a disappointment. 

 3 * of 5