Firstly, a massive thank you to our Patreon supporters. Your generosity touches me deeply. These supporters have become the single biggest contributing factor to the survival of DVDBeaver. Your assistance has become essential.

 

What do Patrons receive, that you don't?

 

1) Our weekly Newsletter sent to your Inbox every Monday morning!
2)
Patron-only Silent Auctions - so far over 30 Out-of-Print titles have moved to deserved, appreciative, hands!
3) Access to over 20,000 unpublished screen captures in lossless high-resolution format!

 

Please consider keeping us in existence with a couple of dollars or more each month (your pocket change!) so we can continue to do our best in giving you timely, thorough reviews, calendar updates and detailed comparisons. Thank you very much.


 

Search DVDBeaver

S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Journey of the Hyena")

 

Directed by Djibril Diop Mambéty
Senegal 1973

 

With a stunning mix of the surreal and the naturalistic, Djibril Diop Mambéty paints a vivid, fractured portrait of Senegal in the early 1970s. In this French New Wave–influenced fantasy-drama, two young lovers long to leave Dakar for the glamour and comforts of France, but their escape plan is beset by complications both concrete and mystical. Characterized by dazzling imagery and music, the alternately manic and meditative Touki bouki is widely considered one of the most important African films ever made.

***

This 1973 first feature by Senegalese director Djibril Diop Mambety is one of the greatest of all African films and almost certainly the most experimental. Beautifully shot and strikingly conceived, it follows the comic misadventures of a young motorcyclist and former herdsman (Magaye Niang) who gets involved in petty crimes in Dakar during an attempt to escape to Paris with the woman he loves (Mareme Niang). The title translates as “Hyena's Voyage,” and among the things that make this film so interesting stylistically are the fantasy sequences involving the couple's projected images of themselves in Paris and elsewhere.

Excerpt from Jonathan Rosenbaum at the Chicago Reader located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: May 1973 - Cannes Film Festival

Reviews                                                                                                       More Reviews                                                                                       DVD Reviews

 

Comparison:

Criterion (World Cinema Project - Volume 1 - 2013) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray vs. Criterion (2021) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover

  

  

Bonus Captures:

Distribution Criterion (2013) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray Criterion (2021) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:30:36.806          1:30:36.806  
Video

1.33:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 47,336,042,261 bytes

Feature: 26,191,263,744 bytes

Video Bitrate: 29.49 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

1.33:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 44,416,636,451 bytes

Feature: 27,153,770,496 bytes

Video Bitrate: 35.84 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate 2013 Blu-ray:

Bitrate 2021 Blu-ray:

Audio LPCM Audio Wolof 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit

LPCM Audio Wolof 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit

Subtitles English, None English, None
Features Release Information:
Studio:
Criterion (2013)

 

1.33:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 47,336,042,261 bytes

Feature: 26,191,263,744 bytes

Video Bitrate: 29.49 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

• Scorsese Introduction (2:16)
• Abderrahmane Sissako on Touki Bouki (11:57)


Blu-ray Release Date:
December 10th, 2013
Custom Blu-ray Case

Chapters 18

Release Information:
Studio:
Criterion (2021)

 

1.33:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 44,416,636,451 bytes

Feature: 27,153,770,496 bytes

Video Bitrate: 35.84 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

Introduction from 2013 by Martin Scorsese (2:16)
Interviews with filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako (11:57), musician Wasis Diop, and filmmaker Mati Diop (26:03)
"Contras’ City," a 1968 short film by Mambéty in a new 4K restoration (23:08)


Blu-ray Release Date:
March 9th, 2021
Transparent Blu-ray Case

Chapters 18

 

 

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Criterion (2021) Blu-ray (February 2021): Criterion originally released "Touki-Bouki" in 1080P back in 2013 as part of their World Cinema Project - Volume 1 (REVIEWED HERE) where it shared a Blu-ray with Emilio Gómez Muriel and Fred Zinnemann's 1936 Redes. It is a described as"Touki Bouki has been digitally restored at 2K resolution using the original 35 mm camera and sound negatives provided by the director’s son Teemour Diop Mambéty and preserved at the GTC in Paris. Digital restoration brought the film’s original chromatic elements to light. At the end of the digital process a new 35 mm internegative was produced.", but there are some differences from the two HD transfers. More than the 2021 individual Blu-ray having a higher (max'ed out) bitrate, we can see the original transfer was slightly picture-boxed with borders on the top and bottom of the frame (and we can see an equivalent amount on the sides when compared to the newer transfer - toggle between the larger image captures to see.) Same information - no loss - but the 2021 video is superior - evident in-motion.  

NOTE: We have added 35 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

Criterion offer a linear PCM 1.0 channel at 1152 kbps. The original Wolof dialogue sounds clean and the scattered parts are flat and a function of the original. There is plenty of traditional music and the use of the soulful voice of Josephine Baker (“Paris, Paris, Paris”). Criterion (2021) also offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Criterion (2021) Blu-ray includes the same Scorsese introduction - but also 12-minutes of Abderrahmane Sissako discussing Touki Bouki but add Djibril Diop Mambety's first short film, Contras’ City, completed in 1968. It is a tour of the city of Dakar and the postcolonial contrasts of its people, architecture, and culture. It is prefaced with: "Restored in 2020 by Cineteca di Bologna/L'Immagine Ritrovata and The Film Foundation's World Cinema Project in association with The Criterion Collection. Funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation.
The 4K restoration of Contras' City was made from the internegative as well as the original sound negative provided by Teemour Mambety and preserved at LTC Patrimoine. A vintage print of the film was used as reference for color grading.
"
There is also a 26-minuite conversation between musician Wasis Diop, brother of Touki bouki director Djibril Diop Mambety, and filmmaker Mati Diop, Wasis's daughter, recorded in 2012. There is also a liner notes booklet with an essay by film programmer and critic Ashley Clark.  

Djibril Diop Mambéty's "Touki-Bouki" is full of symbolism - freedom, individuality, exploitation etc. - particularly notable in the distasteful animal cruelty but even in the woven fantasies. There is some beauty - the ocean, barren landscapes, busy markets, the colorful traditional female garb... It's a brilliant film I am very happy to own on new individual Blu-ray with superior video and more supplements.

Gary Tooze

 


Criterion (2013) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

 

Criterion (2021) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray


CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

1) Criterion (2013) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray TOP

2) Criterion (2021) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Criterion (2013) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray TOP

2) Criterion (2021) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


1) Criterion (2013) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray TOP

2) Criterion (2021) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


1) Criterion (2013) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray TOP

2) Criterion (2021) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


More full resolution (1920 X 1080) Blu-ray Captures for DVDBeaver Patreon Supporters HERE

 

 

 
Box Cover

  

  

Bonus Captures:

Distribution Criterion (2013) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray Criterion (2021) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray


 


 

Search DVDBeaver

S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

 

Hit Counter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DONATIONS Keep DVDBeaver alive:

 CLICK PayPal logo to donate!

Gary Tooze

Thank You!