Beti and Amare

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07/13/2015 In short: Slowly paced but that seems standard on the Ethiopian country side. Plot had more potential than shown here, and seems under-exploited. I don't think I understood everything Saw this at the IMAGINE film festival 2015 in Amsterdam. Was not boring overall, in spite of the unmistakable fact that nothing much happens. I needed some adjustment time in order to get used to the tempo that is normal in the Ethiopian countryside. I believe this slow pace to be true to reality, because most of the day is filled with tedious tasks like getting water from a far-away waterhole which takes hours on foot, or patiently trying to catch a rabbit for food. The "alien" who landed looked unrealistically like a normal human, except for his extraordinary teeth. I found that a bit odd, and it could have been used differently to make this story more compelling. On the other hand, later on he shows other (unearthly) capabilities, like an alternative way to catch a rabbit instead of a snare with a carrot to lure the animal into the clamp as per the standard method demonstrated to him by Beti. I had some problems with the frequent changes between B&W and colour. All the time I assumed it meant something, but I did not get it at all. It made me think that it was a bit artificial, but I cannot imagine it to have no underlying meaning. The director seems able to do better but had to deal with obvious constraints, be it self-inflicted or for other reasons we don't know of. The remarkably small budget shows, but I'm not sure it was the only constraint for the film makers. See more Read all reviews

Beti and Amare

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