Night of the Kings Film Difficulty Ranking: 2
We all live our stories, then we die. This is the same for Roman, the latest arrival to an Ivory Coast prison in Night of the Kings; if he ends his story, his fellow inmates will end his life. This is storytelling at it’s most elementary.
From: Cote d'Ivoire, Africa Watch: JustWatch Next: Hyenas, Arabian Nights, Life of Pi
Night of the Kings Breakdown
Roman’s life vs. death situation reminds me of the aging storytellers in movies like Big Fish and Life of Pi that tell exaggerated versions of their past to relive it and pass it on on before they die. Telling sensational stories makes their life story more memorable to boost their chances of living in the minds of others. Roman, like those aging storytellers, has to tell an engaging story of his own to live on. He has to entertain the other inmates of La Maca prison to keep their minds off of sacrificing him. If his story fails to be memorable, he’ll die forgotten, but if he succeeds, he’ll be remembered and live on.
The prisoners also represent the film’s audience. Roman doesn’t just have to engage the other characters but the film’s viewers too. He needs to distract us from turning off the TV or flicking through our phones (which is even more of a problem when you’re watching this at home vs. in the cinema). If we stop watching, we also end his life on screen, and confine him to a pile of un-ended movies in our minds that we’ve forgotten about.
To keep everyone engaged, Roman has to know his audience. His opening tests the water to see how his audience reacts – what resonates with them. One man questions him early, giving him a few clues to their tastes. He figures out that they want to escape their imprisoned bodies to explore a free conjured world in their mind. To get them there, he has to tell a convincing story. Something with familiarity, as familiarity gives credibility (they only know what they’ve lived). For this, he has to learn a bit about them to tell a story that reflects them. To boost his credentials, he calls on his Griot lineage – a class of storytellers who maintain a tradition of oral history in parts of West Africa.
Roman starts to learn about his audience from the call and response elements in his story. When something he says resonates – members of the audience start singing, dancing, and acting out parts of his story, bringing it to life. Roman doubles down on these parts of his to keep them entertained. As a result, his story becomes not so much his own story as that of his listeners. It’s moulded to appeal to their own tastes. By intertwining his listeners into his story, Roman protects himself. It means that it won’t just be his story that will be lost if he dies, but the lives of the prisoners and the prison too. As he turns himself into the Griot for La Maca, killing him, will kill their own history too.
One more thing. You’ll notice than as Roman’s telling his story, the two factions in the prison listen. Because his story appeals to everyone, he unites them in his created myth. This threatens the divide and conquer rule of the Dangoro (the leader of the prison) and the prison guards. Perhaps this also signals the power storytellers have in Cote d’Ivoire. Stories that represent everyone in a country that has seen two Civil Wars in the 21st Century could build an Ivorian identity that celebrates shared experiences instead of exploiting differences. Night of the Kings feels like Philippe Lacote’s call for more Ivorian stories to build Ivorian pride and unity.
What to Watch Next
If you’re looking another African movie that pits one man against a community, check out Hyenas from Senegal. It features one wealthy woman returning home with an offer – condemn their neighbor to death for failing to be a father for an abundance of riches.
Or if you’re just looking for more storytelling, try Miguel Gomes’ Arabian Nights series if you’re feeling adventurous, Araby and Naseem if you want something more accessible but still international, or Life of Pi if you’re not up for subtitles.
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