Untamable
In this Cameroonian crime drama, no-nonsense police chief Billong investigates the murder of a fellow officer, uncovering deep tensions between tradition and change.
The police supervise and demand morality, and yet play by rules of their own. Abuse, extortion, bullying: when the police arrive on scene in Yaounde, Cameroon, it generally results in more restlessness than resolution, at home and in the line of duty. At least when the officer on scene is superintendent Billong, the film’s stubbornly idealistic protagonist.
Based on the 1999 documentary A Murder in Abidjan, the film follows the trials and tribulations of the stern superintendent Billong over a span of a few days. While he attempts to solve the murder of his colleague and crack down on gang activity, his relationship with his family becomes strained. The pressure keeps building, and soon no one seems to be doing what they are told, although Billong’s reaching hand still finds a polite handshake.
In France, director Thomas Ngijol is best known as a comedian, but Untamable is a dense drama centred on values and ideals. What happens if you let yourself be ruled by them? Is destruction inevitable?
Susanna Puomio (translated by Adrian Murtomäki)
Trailer
