Review: Prison drama 'Night of the Kings' weaves a mesmerizing tale that mixes brutal realism and West African mythology
Moving seamlessly from gritty prison thriller to West African folklore, director Philippe Lacôte’s drama “Night of the Kings” is a hypnotic story of power that’s also about the power of a story.
Lacôte starts in his hometown — Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (or Ivory Coast) — where a teen rides in a truck with a guard. The truck is taking the teen (Bakary Koné) to MACA, a prison that’s entirely run by the inmates. The chief guard, Nivaquine (Issaka Sawadogo), watches from a fortified office in the prison, but the real power is one of the prisoners: Lord Blackbeard (Steve Tientcheu, last seen in Ladj Ly’s 2019 drama “Les Misérables”).
Blackbeard is ailing, and by the baroque rituals of MACA, he must kill himself and let a successor take over on the night of the Red Moon. But Blackbeard has one more trick up his sleeve: By the rules of MACA, he can appoint a “Roman” — a storyteller who must entertain the other prisoners all night and into the morning with his story. Blackbeard sees in this teen, a pickpocket, the spark required of a Roman.
While gang leaders in the prison jockey for position to replace Blackbeard, the teen — now just called Roman — begins to unfurl the story of Zama, a street criminal of legendary prowess until his brutal death. As Roman recounts Zama’s legend, Lacôte, as writer and director, oscillates between neo-realist flashbacks and a call-and-response chorus of inmates in sync with the narrative. Roman becomes MACA’s Scheherazade, as he’s warned by a grizzled inmate, called Silence (played by the French star Denis Levant) that he has to keep talking until dawn or else.
Lacôte moves gracefully between the harsh realities within MACA’s walls and the fantasy-like elements of Zama’s story floating gently outside the prison’s confines. The story flows and moves to the rhythm produced by the inmates’ chanting and dancing, and it’s not long until the audience is feeling that rhythm, as well. The juxtaposition of Roman’s yarn-spinning and the rough reality surrounding him is an intoxicating brew that will bewitch an audience.
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‘Night of the Kings’
★★★1/2
Opening Friday, February 26, in theaters where open; available as March 5 as a premium video-on-demand. Rated R for some violent material, language and nudity. Running time: 93 minutes; in French and Dyula, with subtitles.