If you’re looking for a Madagascan film which documents a barber over the course of a few years, Nofinofy is the film for you. It’s mostly a humble slice-of-life movie that depicts the everyday nature of Romeo’s profession. But as one of Romeo’s friends mentions, his job is an honorable one; every day customers entrust him with their heads. But more than that, his customers also loan him their ears. Throughout each haircut, he gives his young customers unsolicited pieces of advice to help them through life, and for his older customers, he’s allowed to converse as he might to old friends, which gives him temporary relief from the burdens the government imposes on his barber shop. His dream of owning his own shop is repeatedly delayed by a city council that forces him to relocate every couple of months. His ever-moving barber shop mirrors the ever-changing city governments.
Kapila is born during a solar eclipse in the opening of When the Stars Meet the Sea. According to traditional Madagascan beliefs this gives him destructive powers, so his father secretly leaves him in a cattle pen to be trampled. He’s permanently crippled, but before the cows kill him, he’s saved by Raivo, who takes him to the city to raise as her own child. However, even though he’s brought up by a loving adoptive mother, he’s never able to fit into the community because of his crippled leg and growing supernatural powers. So he starts to question his roots, and with the help of a mystical blind woman he starts a journey into his past.
A dark Madagascan version of Hercules
When the Stars Meet the Sea feels a bit like a modest Madagascan version of Hercules. In both, a child with supernatural powers is left to die but is saved by a humble villager that raises him as their own. Similarly, they both grow up with supernatural powers and realize that their humble families are not their own. So they go on a quest to find their true identity. However, whilst Hercules is destined for greatness, Kapila is cursed to use his powers for destruction.
Taming Vengeance with Love
Kapila’s journey therefore becomes his battle with destiny. Society believes he’s evil because of his birth date, and the glimpses of his destructive supernatural power justify their fears. It appears in his weakest moments: when’s he’s bullied or grieving. In order to allay his power, he has to quell his desires for vengeance against those who cross him, and replace those desires with love. In this way, his journey resembles that of Siddhartha: he can achieve peace and happiness if he tunes out his anger and desires for vengeance. It’s a journey of purification and finding peace with oneself.
The Landscape Holds the Ultimate Journey
When the Stars Meet the Sea infuses the landscape into the story. As Kapila walks through the Madagascan landscape on his way home he passes through the desert, woodland, mountains, and the savannah. The variety of scenery may look like an advertisement for the beautiful landscapes of Madagascar, but it’s also representative of the diversity of our own lives. In traditional Madagascan beliefs, the sky (where Kapila draws his supernatural powers) and the sea (where he journeys towards) represent birth and death. The earth represents the life in between. His journeys through the different Madagascan landscapes therefore represent the diversity of life and its challenges whilst his journey towards the sea represents life’s ultimate journey in this world: from birth to death.
What to Watch Next
If you’re looking for more African films in which the main character embarks on a magical quest, check out Zerzura from Niger. It features a psychedelic journey into the desert to fight the Djinn. You could also watch the brilliantly animated Kirikou and the Sorceresswhich features a magical baby that takes on an evil sorceress that demands human tributes from his village or Sleepwalking Land which features a post-apocalyptic Mozambique.
Otherwise if you’re looking for more films with a bit of magic and family secrets, go watch Eve’s Bayou, an American film set in rural Louisiana.
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