LFF 2011 Diary, Day 10: Restless City (Rating: ****) Nigerian-born director Andrew Dosunmu’s Restless City struggles to reconcile the skyhigh promises of the American Dream with the gritty reality of life in New York. Walking a fine line between the city’s sensuous illusions and its grim truths, Restless City is an immigrant’s love letter to Harlem: its bustling streets, its inherent danger and its potent sexuality. Dosunmu’s feature-length debut combines stylised cinematography with a phenomenal soundtrack to produce something quite remarkable. Djibril (Alassane Sy) is a young Senegalese immigrant trying to make a life for himself in the unforgiving streets of Harlem, sticking around in the big city in the hope of kicking off his recording career. In the meantime, he dabbles in small jobs, selling CDs on the street and acting as a courier on his moped. But when a meeting with beautiful, vulnerable Trini (Sky Grey) in pimp Bekay’s apartment changes his life forever, Djibril puts himself at risk to help her escape. In Restless City the image is paramount; the film is pure aesthetic poetry. With an established background in fashion and photography, Dosunmu imbues every shot with an effortlessly cool elegance. Whether it be Djibril staring into the camera with a red scarf wrapped around his face, or Trini crouched on a cold train platform in a leopard-print coat, the framing is always spot-on. Toying with colour filters, light effects and depth of field, Restless City’s cinematography is always stunning. The soundtrack, meanwhile, provides the film’s beating, racing pulse. The New York of Restless City is reminiscent of the Harlem in Toni Morrison’s Jazz; music is as integral to the city as the buildings that make it and the people who live in it. Conversations in English, French, Yoruba and Wolof contribute their own melodies to the city’s rhythms. As Djibril drives through Harlem, his red headphones clasped over his helmet, its myriad of everyday sounds slowly gives way to a unifying beat.
Restless City is unapologetically slow-paced. Perhaps inspired by the powerful but unhurried films of early African cinema, such as Ousmane Sembene’s biting political satire Xala. And its strength lies in its refusal to conform to expectations. While it doesn’t shy away from the gritty glamour and dirty opulence of New York’s criminal underground, Restless City is definitely far from a gangster film. At the same time, despite Djibril’s unwavering optimism, Restless City is far removed from the sentimentalised New York immigrant narrative seen in films such as In America (2002). With such an impressive feature-length debut already in the bag, Dosunmu is undoubtedly a name to watch. AL