Art & Authenticy

Souleymane Cisse’s “Min Ye…Tell Me Who You Are” is a rather repetitive film where the relationship between Mimi and Issa goes back and forth for 2½ hours. Mimi had shown a very interesting personality, which demanded the attention of both men in her life. However, her unfaithfulness had made me lose sympathy towards her throughout the film. Issa has become more of a hopeless romantic as he has given Mimi more than enough chances. I think of Mimi as a stubborn fool because even as others persuade her not to have a divorce and warn her not to play around, she continues her relationship with Abba. Even with Mimi’s strong character, the lack of something new throughout had me questioning what’s the point of this. Every twenty minutes of the film felt like dejavu. With just a difference in characters (addition of servants then lawyers then officials etc), the constant need for Mimi to cheat has been shown more than enough times.

So Souleymane’s Cisse’s “Min Ye…” was a production that destroyed all stereotypes I have ever made about independent film. It was long. I’m talking 2 1/2 hours long. That’s even long for a regular movie. Aren’t indie films supposed to be under-funded? How did Cisse have the resources to make the movie go on, and on, and on… Continue Reading »

Souleymonne Cisse’s stunning portrayal of the social instability in Mali truly captures the chaos of an unstable relationship between Issa and Mimi. Although both of them are liable for disloyalty and lechery, social pressures in addition to the insatiable desire for sex on Mimi’s part is what ultimately makes this relationship one-sided.  Social pressures in Mali are favorable for men. In the film, we can tell that no matter how wealthy and affluent Mimi is, Issa is still the alpha male of the household.  When you factor in Mimi’s adulterous mindset, the relationship truly spirals out of control and it will only be inevitable until that balloon will burst…

The complicated relationship in Souleymane Cissé’s Min Yè… (Tell Me Who You Are) between Mimi (Sokona Gakou), Issa (Assane Kouyate), Abba (Alous Sissoko), and Nassoun, which serves as a miniature of the polygamy system in Mali, leaves the audience an impression that the many problems caused by polygamy have no solutions. Mimi, the 52-year old rich woman, and the other wives of Abba fight over him just like a group of immature girls fighting over a dress. Continue Reading »

Min Ye (Tell Me Who You Are) opened to a colorful foreign setting. Because of this, I guess I had anticipated that there would be more substance in the plot. What I got was a redundant plot with shallow, one-dimensional characters. It was hard to see the focus of the play, is it feminist, or is it just another melodrama? The main character was trying to make a point about the injustice of polygamy by having a lover but her character became so childish that her argument was no longer credible. The ending to the 135 min. feature was what I had expected to happen an hour ago. What did the title have to do with the film? Min Ye was long enough to explain its title and its characters, so what happened?

Souleymane Cisse

While “Tell Me Who You Are” revolves around interesting topics pertaining to polygamy and feminist ideas, the writing made it difficult to understand the point. The movie was much too long and circular. It was impossible to feel one way towards the main character, Mimi, because she was made into an incredibly irrational character. In the beginning we feel very sympathetic towards her, because she seems hurt by the polygamist marriage she is in and she is attempting to assert herself against her husband. However, then she keeps going back and forth, crying consistently, screaming, and acting very childish overall. The amount of times that she left and went back to her husband, Issa, made it too dragged out and annoying because the movie could have been ended so many times and yet it didn’t. Lesson learned: longer isn’t always better.

New York Film Festival

“Min ye – Tell me Who You Are” a French play that beautifully and vividly portrays the African culture in all aspects – including marriage, family life, class distinction, gender bias and social traditions and customs. Although, the main story line focuses on Mimi, an independent married woman who cheats on her husband to punish him for having a polygamist marriage, the parts that caught me attention were the ones that gave me an insight in this fascinating culture. From the brightly colored traditional costumes to the relationship between the servants and master, it’s the cultural expression of this play that draws me towards this otherwise long and dragging play.

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I don’t like to generalize, but I’m sure the male audience members won’t agree with me when I say Souleymane Cisse was pretty sexist when he wrote Tell Me Who You Are. Polygamy, or the practice of multiple marriages, seems to be the norm in Mali for men, but when Mimi (played by Sokona Gakou) takes part in an affair, she seems like the bad guy. Why? Because she is a woman. I’m not saying I agree with all the decisions she made, but I am saying she was put in a tough spot – having to keep Issa’s family happy and searching for her own true “pleasure”, Abba.

Min Ye or Tell Me Who You Are certainly revealed a new way to look at polygamous marriage for me. The film shows none of the weak and passive personalities I used to associate with wives in polygamous marriage. However, the main character, Mimi, fails to appeal to me despite her strong personality and independent abilities. The melodrama focuses too much on Mimi’s buffoonery and leaves no ground for any self-respecting viewer to identify or sympathize with Mimi. Continue Reading »

Souleymanne Cisse’s “Tell Me Who You Are” had a common opinion amongst viewers on Thursday nights screening in The New York Film Festival. “This lady is insane, how many times is she going to cheat on her husband?” However, she is not insane, she is a true representation of a real woman. Regardless of class, social status, or cultural background, every woman wants to be valued. She wants flowers, candy, attention, and the first place in her husband’s heart. Continue Reading »