Summary:
The African Doctor is a French comedy-drama film based in 2016 in a city north of Paris. The film is originally known as Bienvenue a Marly-Gomont. The film follows a doctor, Seyolo Zantoko, leaving and taking his family out of their home in Zaire/Congo, and settling in a small French village.
The movie begins with Dr. Seyolo Zantoko struggling to find a way to stay in France. Conveniently, the mayor of the small village meets with Seyolo at a bar and expresses his need of finding a doctor for the village. The mayor is hesitant and tries hard to discourage Seyolo from the job. Seyolo realizes that it is because he is Black and convinces the mayor that he is capable of “fitting in” and doing his job.
The movie then continues on with Seyolo and his family settling into the village. Through the scenes of Seyolo’s children struggling to fit in in class, his wife losing confidence in her place each day, and a painful pregnant woman neglecting help from Seyolo, the directors of the film portray the African struggle, even in 2016.
As the movie strings along, Seyolo reaches a breaking point and makes more of an effort to go out and connect with the community. He spends his time at the local bar, the market square and the neighborhood and connects with the village. When he finally gets a patient to come into the clinic, the patients leave him without any payment.
The Zantokos struggle as they continue on without patients, heat or happiness. Seyolo tries to make ends meet by helping out a farmer outside the office.
The mood changes when the family and friends visit the Zantokos during Christmas time and sings a Christmas song. Seyolo gets angry at them for not ‘acting’ the way ‘normal’ people should.
The breakthrough of the movie is when there’s an emergency pregnancy and the baby has to be delivered early. The only doctor in the area is Seyolo and he works with the frustrating mother as a team to deliver the baby.
As the movie progresses, it’s a constant cycle between the family enjoying their time there and the family regretting their decision. Once Seyolo sees how amazing his daughter is at soccer, his whole attitude for his family changes.
Race was represented in the film when the villagers would not come to the village doctor, Seyolo. Having an African doctor was not something that they were used to. Class was represented in the film when Seyolo decided that he would help out a farmer in order to make ends meet. He and his family were used to the high-life and celebrating and luxurious parties... in the village, however, is something completely different. The village he was sent to is a village of lower class where he was used to middle and high-class communities.
Throughout the film, these concepts weren't presented as issues necessarily. However it was a prevalent issue that Seyolo and his family had a hard time connecting with the villagers. You can see this when Seyolo tries to get people to come to his clinic and when his wife pretends that she's living a grand life when she tells stories to her friends and family. Interestingly enough, these "issues" were resolved at the end of the story.
My response:
I truly enjoyed the movie. This cinematic depiction strengthened my understanding of these constructs. However, I didn't know that I would enjoy the movie until towards the very end. The compassion showed by the Zantokos as well as the community was overwhelming. The ending truly was a surprise, but it definitely made the film worth it.
