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I am samuel, 2020.
Directed by Pete Murimi.
SYNOPSIS:
A gay couple in Kenya faces the fact that their relationship is illegal, as well as their families who disapprove of it.
“This is Alex. I’m Sammy. Alex is the love of my life.” This is how the Kenyan documentary opens I am samuel, without a “can I make it more obvious?” for Avril Lavigne fans. The couple in question are obviously in love and enjoying their time together, but they have a problem. In Kenya, homosexuality is illegal as part of the scope of cruel legislation that allows any romantic relationship deemed “contrary to the order of nature” to be punished with a maximum prison sentence of 14 years. And that’s not to mention the vile public beatings that are often inflicted on anyone who is denounced in the community.
Sammy and Alex now live in Nairobi, with the film, shot over five years by filmmaker Pete Murimi, hovering between the capital city and the small rural community where Sammy grew up. His parents believe that he and Alex are simply friends, with potentially huge risks if their relationship is discovered. At the beginning of the film, Murimi shows the audience horrific mobile phone footage of a gay man being brutally beaten on the street by a mob.
I am samuel He does an excellent job of depicting the tenderness and beauty of this relationship, a bond between two people whose very affection threatens their lives. There is an elegant contrast between the simplicity of their love and the inherent complexity of their situation. Both men are more down to earth about this than seemingly scared, sometimes speaking with chilling nonchalance about the prospect of their own family sending bullies out to “teach them a lesson.”
When the movie focuses on its two leads, it really works, but it feels like a missed opportunity to dig into the big issues. At just 90 minutes, the film is fairly light, and while it begins by clearly setting out the legal persecution of gays in Kenya, that idea is pushed aside throughout the story in favor of the more prosaic family dynamics at play. The decision to focus on the people before a broader debate is laudable, but in this case, it leaves the documentary without force.
Given the life or death significance of the story, I am samuel it’s a pretty smooth movie. He scratches the surface of several potentially compelling ideas, only to escape and talk about something else. For example, there is great value in the notion expressed early on that many Kenyan parents know their children’s sexuality, but choose to suppress and ignore it in order to save not only the children, but themselves, from the trauma of having to face your forbidden wishes. . “They may know the truth, but they are willing to believe the lie,” says Alex.
As a meandering chronicle of two men who exist in a society that condemns its own identity, I am samuel it often works. However, he is paralyzed by his own approach to verité, which prevents him from dealing with the big issues as they belong to the wider community outside of this couple. There is much to like about Murimi’s story as a human interest story, but the opportunity to be a more definitive portrait of a country on the brink of 21st century modernity, struggling with regressive, outdated, and attitudes seems to be missed. dangerous to your heart.
Classification of blinking myths – Movie: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Tom Beasley is a freelance film journalist and wrestling fanatic. FOLLOW on Twitter via @TomJBeasley for opinions on movies, wrestling material and word games.
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