Film Review: Benda Bilili!

Picture courtesy of Crammed Discs

France/Democratic Republic of Congo – Trinity Films (on release from 18 March 2011)
Rating: *****

Benda Bilili! is a French documentary which charts the rise of Congolese band Staff Benda Bilili from their discovery in Kinshasa, by documenters Ranaud Barret and Florent de La Tullaye, to the release of their first album, Tres Tres Fort, and their remarkable European tour.

The band consists mainly of a small group of elderly paraplegics who ride around on customised tricycles.  Ricky, the founding member, has a simple dream; to make Staff Benda Bilili the best band in Kinshasa.  Astonished by their unique sound, Barret and de La Tullaye decide to document the band, from rehearsals to releasing their first album, over the next six years.  Along the way they encounter Roger, aged 13 and living in the streets, who plays a santongé, an instrument that consists of a tin can with a single piece of string attached to a stick; he joins the band and progresses with them. Their songs are all about their experiences of living in Kinshasa, scraping together a living for their families and often sleeping in the streets on pieces of cardboard.

What is wonderful about this documentary is that Barret and de La Tullaye have no agenda other than simply to chart the rise of the band.  The result of this is an unassuming slice of real life.  Barret and de La Tullaye do not shy away from the poverty and adversity experienced by the band’s members; rather, they take it at face value and the film never dwells on it, leaving the focus purely on the band’s development and the personal stories behind its members.  At no point does it feel like a Comic Relief-style attempt to forcibly squeeze every last drop of sympathy from the viewer through over-yolked melodrama. This gives way for the characters, such as Ricky, to display their unyielding optimism and fantastic sense of humour. When the band faces almost certain disaster, and Ricky’s family endures the utter devastation of their shelter and the entirety of their personal belongings, it is genuinely moving.

Barret and de La Tullaye manage to capture some acutely observed moments from the profound to the surreal.  At the same time they unaffectedly capture what life is like for the people of Kinshasa, from the squalid streets where the band work and sleep, to the decrepit zoo where they rehearse.  They also have a knack of capturing stupendous moments of visual juxtaposition that compliment the characters’ humour and personal stories superbly; the film’s style does great justice to its narrative.

The band’s music is naturally a strong focal point for the documentary, and is infectiously entertaining.  It consists of a wide mix of influences including traditional Congolese music, and even some James Brown (in one number, band members would keep randomly singing, “sex-a-machine”).

Benda Bilili! is a rare example of a perfect documentary.  Its down-to-earth concept and approach, coupled with some fantastic direction, brilliant music, and compelling characters, make it delightfully uplifting and inspirational.  My only criticism is its brevity, which left little room for closure on the band’s intriguing saga.

Getting to know the characters and following them on this momentous journey is an absolute treat.  Enormously elating and moving, this is a truly rousing piece of cinematic prose.

Find out more about the film at www.bendabilili.co.uk. Buy Brenda Bilili! on Amazon UK