How the Beninese Are Reclaiming Their Cultural Identity: “Dahomey” – Review
- Colton Gomez
- Jan 7
- 2 min read
Review
By Colton Gomez | 01/07/25 | 9:34 P.M. Mountain Time
Documentary | Unrated | 1 hr 8 min | "Dahomey" Release Date: December 13, 2024
“Dahomey” is a French-language documentary about twenty-six artifacts being brought home to the Kingdom of Dahomey in modern-day Benin. These pieces, stolen by French colonizers, previously resided in Paris, where seven thousand pieces remain. Director Mati Diop represents different sides of the conversation in regards to how they should treat these pieces, how they should feel about only getting back twenty-six of them, how their culture must be respected and taught correctly in schools, and what this means for their cultural identity.
For much of the film, Art Piece 26, a statue of the King Ghezo, is personified with an internal monologue. It laments its removal from its home and wants only to be seen in the light by its people and not hidden away in darkness, like the majority of the stolen artifacts. We hear from many citizens and learn their viewpoints in this historic event. The conversation is about reclaiming the physical aspects of their heritage and how politics influenced the decision of the restitution. It’s an important conversation to have and it won’t be the last.
It's a fascinating film—for the second half. I’ll admit, the first half of the film had a hard time convincing me to stay. It’s very slow as it details the repackaging process and intersperses the internal monologue of King Ghezo over a black screen. The shots are beautiful but very simple. They aren’t contextualized enough to mean anything significant. Some of them seem like they exist to reach a time requirement.
They spend time shipping the artifacts to Benin and setting up their gallery for citizens to visit. They then commence their discussions in public debate of what the pieces mean and how they should proceed. This portion of the film lacks in cinematography as the previous portion lacked substance—not that beautiful shots are really needed in the second half. The film feels unbalanced in this way. The first half is style, the second half is substance. They don’t really mix until the last five or so minutes of the film. As short as it is, it creates an uncomfortable pacing.
It's a relatively short film with a lot to say and asks a lot of important questions. It’s great in that regard. I wasn’t compelled by the boxing up portion but maybe it will mean more on a rewatch. It’s a great moment in history, it wasn’t as great a documentary.
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Review by Colton Gomez
Colton Gomez earned his BA in Film Studies from Weber State University. He owns and operates ColtonGomez.com. Here, he covers new releases in theaters and on streaming. For short versions of his reviews, check out his LetterBoxd
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