Symbolism In Jean Rouch's Les Maitres Fous

While viewing Jean Rouch’s Les Maitres Fous (1955), one was able to recognize the anthropological features of it, such as, the use of narrative, reaction between Rouch and the residents of Accra, the images of the people and their clothing, symbolism of the ceremony, the layout of history, and even more, the notice of consent between the participants and Rouch. Immediately, as an anthropology major, I was able to tell that the intended audience for this film are students and scholars. Furthermore, I also had the opportunity of watching the film without the use of narration and for a moment I was confused and I was not really sure what Rouch was explaining. For this reason, Asch “never subscribed to the orthodoxy of ‘no narration.’ Before many …show more content…
Throughout this film, viewers were able to visualize a lot of symbolic features pertaining to cultural and political betrayal. El Hadji Aboucader Beye the main character in the film, speaks French and Wolof based on the individual that he is speaking to. After marrying his third wife, El Hadji a business, became cursed as a symbol of impotence. The film was set during the year 1960, when Senegal gain its independence from France after breaking away from the “Mali Federation, which was formed by merging Senegal and the French Soudan in 1959” (SAHO 2000). Although, El Hadji was cursed, he still tried to prove his masculinity by showing that he was still capable of satisfying two wives sexually and economically. Obviously, this film incorporates cultural relativism and Sembène was born in Senegal, so he is portraying his culture through the lenses of the Senegalese people. According to Ruby, “ethnographic film, as well as all actuality film, is motivated by two fundamentally different conceptions of the relationship between the filmmaker and those who are filmed” (Ruby 2000, 197). That is to say, Sembène portrayed his passion for his culture in the film and he made a decision to create a film based on his cultural values, which is similar to an ethnographer. Both Sembène and Flaherty are not anthropologists, but their work had similar features of anthropologist. According to Ruby, “being able to hear people tell their stories and observe their lives instead of being told what they think and the meaning of their behavior clearly offers subjects a greater say in the construction of their image. It represents a major shift in attitude about where one looks for authority and authenticity” (Ruby 2000, 204). As an anthropologist, in order to provide your