Omen
The Belgian rapper Baloji turns feature director with an imaginative drama set in the Congo.
Look up Baloji on Wikipedia and you will learn that he is a Belgian rapper, singer and songwriter of Congolese origin who was born in 1978. In time he also turned his attention to cinema both as an actor and as a maker of short films, but his most notable achievement in this field is undoubtedly his work as the director of Omen which he wrote along with Thomas van Zuylen. It has attracted awards not only in Africa but at international festivals in Munich and Sitges and was also the film submitted by Belgium as a potential candidate for the 2023 Oscars. On viewing Omen, one finds it a challenging film that is certainly less than perfect but nevertheless it has qualities that make one understand fully the enthusiasm that exists for it. Whatever Baloji’s achievements in other spheres, Omen shows conclusively that he is a born filmmaker.
Virtually all of Omen takes place in Kinshasha and the subject-matter chosen, however fictional, clearly draws on Baloji’s own circumstances. If the film has a central character, it is Koffi played by Marc Zinga. We see him first in Belgium where he is living with his fiancée, Alice (Lucie Debay), who is pregnant and soon due to be delivered of twins. Koffi wishes to introduce her to his family who continue to live in the Congo and we follow them there. On arrival he seeks out a mine where his father works but finds him absent and indeed he will continue to remain elusive over the next few days. The person who is there and has to be faced is Koffi’s formidable mother, Mujila (Yves-Marina Gnahoua), and indeed, while his uncle (Denis Mpunga) is formally polite, it is clear that the family are hardly welcoming to this member of the clan who has left and made a very different life for himself. The one sibling who to some extent shares Koffi’s outlook is his sister Tshala (Eliane Umuhire) who is herself on the point of leaving Kinshasa to go south and live with a younger boyfriend, Ezra (Bongeziwe Mabandla).
Ahead of viewing Omen I had read a description of the film which gave me the impression that it would consist of four distinct albeit related stories. However, that is not quite what is on offer here. Nevertheless, it is the case that the names of Koffi, Tshala and Mujila do come up on screen as though the section that follows will tell the tale from the angle of each of them in turn. Instead, the narrative plays on in chronological order regardless following through what occurs during the visit by Koffi and Alice and then moving on to a period some five or six months later when a dramatic event brings the couple back to the Congo once more. Since the family is involved throughout, the named sections form a natural whole - or would do but for the fact that there is a fourth one named for Paco (Marcel Otete Kabeya). Unlike the others, Paco is not a family member but a youth caught up in rivalry with other youngsters led by Simba (Mordecaï Kamangu). Ultimately what happens to Paco, an outsider who dresses up provocatively and acts as a street performer, will connect with Koffi. But for much of the time this thread (one not without a distant echo of the street gangs in West Side Story) hardly blends readily with the rest of the narrative.
Another element that could seem out of place is the introduction of non-realistic imagery that exists somewhere between dreams and magic realism. One such scene opens the film and that is helpful both because it prepares one for later touches of this kind and because it illustrates the ability of Baloji to conjure up imaginative visuals accompanied by considered use of sound that adds to their atmosphere. It also leads us into a film that, in contrasting two continents and old and new beliefs too, frequently focuses on religion. Both Koffi and Tshala undergo ancient healing rituals and in Koffi’s case it is central to the film that he was born with a birthmark on his face which caused him to be regarded as a zobolo – the word used in that part of the world to describe somebody bearing what is believed to be the mark of the devil. This becomes crucial because the family take against Koffi afresh when he suffers a nosebleed and drips blood on to a sister’s baby, an act that is viewed as a curse even though it was unintended.
Religion of a different kind is evoked too since the couple’s visit takes place during Easter week starting, as the film stresses, with their arrival on Palm Sunday. But intriguingly this is not a film in which Christian beliefs are necessarily put in a different category from older ones that embrace superstition and sorcery. If a masked pastor is involved in ancient rituals, masks are also to be seen in the parades and ceremonials occurring because it is Easter. The characters here exist between two worlds and the film’s later scenes are concerned with death and the need for burial even if the coffin contains no corpse.
As all this suggests Omen can sometimes seem confusing in its intentions and unsure in its storytelling. But that matters less than might have been the case given that it echoes and illustrates unresolved conflicts within the personalities of those like Koffi - and possibly like Baloji himself - whose inheritance and lives are affected by two cultures. In any case what stands out is just how impressive Omen is for a first feature. When at its most naturalistic the film is compelling with Baloji obtaining first-class performances from many of his players and not least from Marc Zinga and Lucie Debay who lead us into the narrative with such conviction. In addition, when it comes to the visual impact achieved in both the film’s realistic and fantastical modes, one can but acclaim the director's strong and personal imprint. Omen may not fully satisfy on all levels but watching it is quite an experience and one that I would recommend.
Original title: Augure.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Marc Zinga, Yves-Marina Gnahoua, Eliane Umuhire, Marcel Otete Kabeya, Lucie Debay, Denis Mpunga, Olive Mfumu Ntonto, Mordecaï Kamangu, Bongeziwe Mabandla, Linda Ikwa, Dylan Mata.
Dir Baloji, Pro Benoit Roland, Screenplay Baloji with Thomas van Zuylen, Ph Joachim Philippe, Pro Des Eve Martin, Ed Bruno Tracq and Bertrand Conard, Music Liesa Van der Aa, Costumes Elke Hoste and Baloji.
Wrong Man/New Amsterdam Film Company/Tosala Films/Special Touch Studios/VOO/RadicalMedia Berlin/Proximus/Canal+/Serendipity Films-Aya Films.
91 mins. Belgium/The Democratic Republic of Congo/Netherlands/France/Germany/South Africa. 2023. US Rel: 12 April 2024. UK Rel: 29 April 2024. Cert. 15.
