Aristotle’s Plot

A number of Africans seem fully absorbed by American actionfilms, and a film enthusiast i stubbornly tries to wake their interest for African film.
''African film sucks!'' These are the words of a young man blinded by Hollywood productions in the introductory scene of the film. Another man, claiming to be a film maker tries to convince him of the opposite. ”Aristotle's Plot” is a reflection of film as media, and of Hollywood's strong influence all over the world. Questions about how we differ fiction from reality and how the audience is affected is what pervades the film. Many critics have drawn parallels between Bekolo and Godard; similarities are found in the way of telling the story and in the choice of subject.
”Aristotle's Plot” takes place in a small, colourful town in the south of Africa. The story centers around some friends whos only interest is hanging out at the local movie theatre, Cinema Africa, and watch American actionfilms. The young men (and one woman) identify with the Hollywood stereotypes portrayed in the films, and have taken on the language - ''fuck you'', ''shut the fuck up, man'' and so on - and have even taken names from the heroes of the big screen; For example, Bruce Lee, Nikita, Schwarzenegger and Van Damme. The leader of the group is called Cinema, since he has seen 10 000 films. One day a film enthusiast walks into the cinema and advocates native film, but has problems finding listeners. The satire is obvious. The people would rather be gangsters in a big city than common people in a small African town.The voice-over of the film says that the people living in this small African town identify more with Clint Eastwood than with their own people. Thereby, Bekolo points out the difficulty for African directors to prove themselves and become successful in their own country.
One can also see ”Aristotle's Plot” as a protest against American cultural imperialism as well as an honour to African film. Bekolo speaks ironically of American actionfilm, and questions it by borrowing attributes from it and adding a big portion of humour. But the narration is not very classical Aristotelian, ”Aristotle's Plot” is not a conventional film. Bekolos semi-documentary voice-over, for example, comments both the work with ”Aristotle's Plot” and that which is happening on the screen. This is a way of telling us that we are watching fiction with a touch of reality.
Sara Brolin

Medverkande
Seputla Sebogohi, Albee Lesotho, Ken Gampu: Producent
Jacques Bidou: Manus
Jean-Pierre Bekolo: Foto
Jean-Pierre Bekolo: Musik
Jean-Pierre Bekolo: Talat språk
Jean-Pierre Bekolo