When a group of young girls in a West African village escape from a circumcision ritual, a woman who had the procedure forced on herself offers them safe haven while rallying the local women against the male dominated tribal council. Moolaade, which Ousmane Sembene made in his eighties, tells a tricky, controversial cinema resistant story intelligently rather that opting for more graphic means which seems would be the natural roadway, and does so by serving up beautiful music, a radiant color palette, and memorable characters.
*** 1/2 out of ****
