Written and directed by Baloji, after spending years in Belgium, a young Congolese man returns to his birthplace of Kinshasa to confront the intricacies of his family and culture. Starring: Marc Zinga, Yves-Marina Gnahoua, Marcel Otete Kabeya, Eliane Umuhire, Lucie Debay, Denis Mpunga and Bongeziwe Mabandla.
Choosing such complex topics to explore in your debut feature while representing a very specific cultural experience and taking a great deal of artistic license along the way, Baloji was undoubtedly not afraid of a challenge. It’s one that is successful in some ways more than others, so let’s start off with the positives. The main one being how much potential Omen demonstrates, primarily in the energy that it creates.
Not only does Baloji manage to impart this feel of superstition and sorcery, there’s also something deeper and emotional at work. It makes a fierce impression, like it almost wants to jump out of the screen, yet it’s not loud or brash, it’s simply vivacious and committed. It’s diving headfirst into everything and taking you along for the ride, akin to a strange, tense adventure. Taking you down a rabbit hole to try and explore the complicated nature of family relationships within what can be an intense and volatile environment.
However, while the visual stylings do a lot of justice to those themes, the way everything is woven together and the choices Baloji makes with its progression and pacing let Omen down. Primarily the difficulty comes from splitting itself between the many faces of Koffi’s (Marc Zinga) family and a tale of rival gangs. The latter simply doesn’t fit, it eventually does link up nicely with the rest of the story but it’s far too late as it has already created an unnecessary and dampening distraction.
Something that’s all the more a shame because of the depth that the family performances offered. Particularly Yves-Marina Gnahoua and Eliane Umuhire, these two women and the journeys that their respective characters faced were such wonderful examples of continuing struggles for women in that society. They had so much to offer but sadly, Baloji doesn’t give them the time to truly shine, although Gnahoua comes very close with her strong portrayal in the finale.
Whereas Marc Zinga is given plenty of space to provide a great performance and a well-rounded exploration of his character. While his experience is a unique one, it’s not hard to relate to his struggle to find his place and also establish his own life, among people who are constantly pushing him away.
Omen shows a great deal of talent but without a stronger structure and focus, it doesn’t live up to its potential. Often feeling distracted and occasionally straying off into artistic or poetic territory in an attempt to build up the atmosphere, when it didn’t need the help. There is a strong, compelling story of family, culture, religion and gender roles built into its foundation, and it needed to take a step back and let it speak for itself. Which would have been easy enough given that the film has the exceptional trio of Marc Zinga, Yves-Marina Gnahoua and Eliane Umuhire at its core.
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