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In 1992 Haitian-born filmmaker Raoul Peck reconciles with his boyhood memories of the genesis of post-independence Belgian Congo's destruction and of the execution of its nationalist leader Patrice Lumumba. A documentary picture shot during the challenging period of the rule of Mobutu, Lumumba's executioner, and probably Africa's most notorious dictator. This movie accurately recounts Lumumba's origins, his efforts, the challenges he faced and his betrayal. Most of all it reveals Lumumba's tragic destiny, that of a mere Bantu who unfortunately sought too much for his people. Drawn from his evidently deep emotional ties with the then Zaire, the director tells the story of an African holocaust and of the omnipresent invisible hand of the West: "Holocaust! The sole unit of measurement of the human race…" Now the prophet's phantom visits the streets and palaces of the West, haunting its past and present actors, now forever discomforted, summoning them to their inevitable judgment day.

As he makes his debut behind the camera, director Téno reveals the atmosphere around the choice for polygamy in his region of origin. Through this live documentary he visits the implications, better still the objectives of polygamy as evoked in one scene; the need to populate the village, and a quest for recognition, making it to a certain status.

Filmed quite simply and quite negligent about the editing and music, this picture nevertheless portrays the realities of the local culture in quite a faithful manner.

The intervention of a Protestant Pastor, accompanied by religious chants, all in the setting of a traditional marriage punctuated by rituals and blessings, seems to seal another union, quite a controversial one in these parts, between the local traditions and foreign religions.

The characters constantly swap from the French language to their dialect, the latter being subtitled. As such it is easier to discover the impact of local proverbs, sayings, etc used by family and friends to explain and express the local perspective of love within a polygamous household:

· A parent says " In polygamy the new wife must conjugate the verb 'to withstand' in the past, present and future tenses..." in her daily life so as to remember she must not falter.

· In an attempt to express the importance/implications of polygamy, a close friend of Alex says " When a man has one wife, he is making a proposal for marriage, when he has two, he is a fiancé, and when he has three he is married."

When Elise mocks at Joséphine, her new co-wife, the narrator fails to get any more answers to his questions from the former. He tells of his urge to break the silence on the cons of polygamy within his region, "... for his mother, yesterday, for Joséphine and for Elise, today, and for his daughter tomorrow.

More than a masterpiece on the poetry of wartime, Roman Polanski uses the eyes of an artist in his tribute to the suffering of Jews in Warsaw. Less concrete than that of a soldier, yet more resistant, the experience of Wvadyslav Szpilman expresses his negligence of the gravity of the wartime situation to an unfortunate sudden change of fate.

Polanski's picture of WW2 Warsaw is a very deep one, revealing details which characterized the Jewish suffering with an outstanding touche of proximity; a fight over a pan of soup which ends with a man licking up spilt porridge on the ground, a woman gone mad after the disappearance of her husband, another one having herself caused her baby to suffocate as she tried to conceal its cries...

This movie goes beyond the details of the ongoing of the war itself to reveal the sad and frustrating consequences on its victims. How can Wadek survive without his family, without food but even more with his ever growing urge to satisfy his wish to play a piano. He follows the sound of playing as often as he is lucky to. In this a perfect repertoire is mounted, involving Beethoven, Bach, etc.

Wadek's pure and sympathetic nature seems to call for tolerance in wartime. Funny and creative, he could eventually be considered a spectator to these events. One could attribute the luck he has and the intermittent support he receives to some providence. Yet the experience is real and his final contribution to building a new nation summarizes the lessons to be drawn.