Philippe Mory
Captain Ekumu has a lot on his mind: his son Ika is dying and he does not have the means to find treatment for him, which is driving his wife Ezéni to despair.
A film about the difficulty for even the most well-intentioned person to know and respect another culture. In this case, the problem is so acute that there is even heated debate over what to call that 'other.' The subtitles in the film use the familiar word 'pygmies,' a relatively pejorative European term; the Bantu or villagers' expression for the same group, Babingas, carries similar negative connotations. These highly specialized, tropical rainforest hunter-gatherers should perhaps be called by their own ethnonym, Aka, MoAka (sing.) and BaAka (pl.)
Abraham is a young sculptor who does not quite understand the changing world in which he lives. During a visit to the village, he falls for the youngest wife of his uncle. They form a relationship but are discovered and Abraham flees to the city.
The hero is a black man from Martinique who feels nostalgic for his island and is on his own in France. He falls in love with an au pair girl but has a love affair with a married woman, Mrs Courtalès. He kills the husband in self-defense. But eight months later, he is arrested by the Police. Philippe's fate depends on a child's birth. It will not be what he's expecting.
