Africa

THE CATHEDRAL FILM DIFFICULTY RANKING: 2

The Cathedral follows Lina, a young woman wandering Port Louis, the capital city of Mauritius. She interacts with friends and family around the city in a carefree manner which is only challenged (slightly) when her dancing catches the eye of a foreign photographer.

From: Mauritius, Africa
Watch: IMDb, Kanopy
Next: The Courtyard of Songs, Epicentro, Coffee and Cigarettes

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The Breakdown

The Cathedral is based on a short story written by Ananda Devi. However, the tone of the film feels completely different from the reviews of the book which emphasize the hopeless poverty of the main characters. In contrast, the film has a very laidback island feel thanks to the light background music, sunshine, and warm colors. It also helps that most of the film follows Lina roaming around Port Louis, stopping at stalls to chat to vendors and catching conversations happening around her. Her wandering gives her and the film a very care-free nature – even the conflict that comes towards the end of the movie doesn’t feel that serious.

However, it does feel like The Cathedral is trying a bit too hard to be poetic. This is particularly noticeable in the two extra narrators that interrupt Lina’s narrative. One is a personified narrative voice of the city’s cathedral. It’s meant to give a poetic character to the city, but it comes across a bit unnatural for a film, as talking buildings are more expected in classroom historical documentaries or children’s shows. The other narrative voice comes from a foreign photographer. Like the cathedral, the photographer’s narrative voice feels strange because it interrupts Lina’s narrative at various points of the film. It’s also never diegetic – instead his narrative voice is layered over him taking exaggerated pictures of locals (which are also awkwardly voyeuristic). Because the two narrators interrupt the flow of the film and feel unnatural next to the film’s images, the poetic impact they’re intended to create doesn’t come across.

It’s also a bit uncomfortable how much Lina is fetishized. Everyone follows her – the camera, the photographer, and the cathedral. The cathedral speaks about how she is the light of the city and that she’d be missed if she ever left; the foreign photographer takes pictures of her dancing in the street without asking, whilst the camera follows her as if she’s the center of a fashion photo shoot. She’s heavily objectified and treated a bit like she’s a pretty bird flying around the city. She also isn’t given any depth. Her character development is overlooked in her care-free wandering character. Perhaps her character’s fetishization is a metaphor for a country still trapped in a web of colonial interests, however it’s more likely that it’s a byproduct of the director’s male gaze. So if you’re looking for a tour around Port Louis from a fetishized young woman, this film might be for you.

The laid back feel, whilst contrasting with the book reviews, at least makes The Cathedral an easy watch. It doesn’t feel too complex, but perhaps there are some deeper themes it alludes to from the book that doesn’t quite translate to the movie.

What to Watch Next

The Cathedral reminded me of a combination of 3 types of films:

1. The slightly cheesy slice of life sun-drenched dramedies like The Courtyard of Songs from Lisbon which present happy, dreamy city life by the sea.
2. Movies that bounce between casual conversations like Jim Jarmusch’s Coffee and Cigarettes, which make you feel like a fly on the wall of a particular place.
3. Documentaries that exoticize it’s subjects like Sauper’s Epicentro (in this case it’s a pretty local girl instead of a group of local kids).