Oct 13 2009

Just In Case You Forgot

Published by Nguyen Chi under Tell Me Who You Are

Watching Min Ye…(Tell Me Who You Are) was like watching Bring  It On replaying itself over and over and over. The level of  immaturity between Mimi, Issa, and Abba makes me wonder if the  producer, Souleymane Cissé, has miscalculated the age of his characters or American teenagers are just growing up to fast.

It really puzzled me why the movie started with the drawing of a circle, then BAM the answer came to me. The circle was supposed to represent Cissé’s circle of fighting, loving, hating, self-incriminating, and most importantly, boring aspect of an African marriage.

The story line of Min Ye is, overall, not superb. An audience could fall asleep from the 30-minute mark of the movie and wake up for the last 15 minutes, and not miss one single twist of the plot. I am not sure if this is a commemorating aspect of Min Ye or an utter failure of the director.

I couldn’t pinpoint out exactly why Min Ye was not my piece of cake. Perhaps, the only reason why I didn’t enjoy it was because I do not have brain capacity to comprehend the complexity of Cissé’s worldly message. Or maybe because I have no tolerance towards messages without a cohesive touch, especially in a movie. Either way, spending 2.4 hours watching Min Ye at Lincoln Center was not the greatest option that I could have made in my life. If I could change anything from that performance, I would make myself more decisive when it comes to approaching that exit sign.

Well, next time, I guess.

4 responses so far




4 Responses to “Just In Case You Forgot”

  1.   # Alina Pavlovaon 13 Oct 2009 at 11:50 am

    absolutely on point.
    among all the nonsense in the movie, i kind of got lost in figuring out what Cisse’s main point was. Maybe there were simply too many. But the plot travelling in a circle definitely did not help my struggle.

  2.   # Rhianna Mohamedon 13 Oct 2009 at 9:45 am

    They really didn’t seem to have a marriage; it was more like a friendship with FEW benefits. If Issa had only one wife (Ali), I think he would’ve been much better off and happier. As for Mimi, someone as educated and “independent” as her should have never gotten married. By marrying a polygamist, she dug her own grave for her.

  3.   # Amrita Narineon 13 Oct 2009 at 9:43 am

    I agree with you. It reminded me of the review that we read in class about “West Side Story,” when Ben Brantley said “Oh look an adult.” The downside? No adult ever appeared.

  4.   # Mary Prioloon 13 Oct 2009 at 9:36 am

    I agree, except Bring It On had a better plot and more interesting characters…and that’s saying something.