In His Shadow (Le Roi des Ombres) is a French crime thriller film about the complicated family relations between two half-brothers. With a runtime of about 1 hour and 30 minutes, the film is written and directed by Marc Fouchard and the cinematography is by Pierre-Yves Bastard and Fabrice Sébille. It is produced by Brahim Chioua, Vincent Maraval, and Olivier Thery Lapiney under the banner of BlueLight, and Getaway Films.
The ensemble cast of the film includes Kaaris as Ibrahim, Alassane Diong as Adama, Carl Malapa as Malik, Assa Sylla as Aïssata, Issaka Sawadogo as Ousmane, Hassam Ghancy as Chérif, Mareme N’Diaye as Maimouna, Tatiana Rojo as Agna, Jonas Dinal as Oumar, Mylène Wagram as Songolo, Josée Schuller as Madame Diop, Aksel Ustun as Anthony, Fahmi Guerbaa as Kamel, Thibault Cathalifaud as Tomtom, Anas Mennou, Edéa Darcque, Hadidiatou Sakho, and Cheikh Oumar Sow among others.
In His Shadow is Based on Which Legend?
The film follows the story of two half-brothers: Adama and Ibrahim. Their father Ousname Keita moved to the Paris suburb in the 80s to start his own restaurant. He has Ibrahim with his wife Agna but when he turned a teenager, the father married another woman named Maimouna, with whom he had Adama. The addition of a second wife put Agna on the sidelines & also the point where Ibrahim starts to despise his father.
He gets into the wrong company of crime & drugs to make money, while his father disowns him due to his illegal activities. He doted on Adama and more so after his accident where he lost his sight. But after his sudden death, Ibrahim tries to take over everything that was owned by his father & in the process, becomes the biggest enemy of Adama.
To save his mother and everyone around him, Adama goes on a mystical & violent journey which changes the course for everyone. Along with being a crime thriller, there are mystical elements that contribute greatly to the growth of the lead character. But it’s not just a fictional story & is actually inspired by the real-life story of Sundiata Keita.
If you are familiar with the Disney classic movie, The Lion King, then you already know about the legend, as it’s based on the same as well. Sundiata Keita was a prince and founder of the Mali Empire and was born to King Naré Maghann Konaté. According to the travelling poets & storytellers from West Africa, the King was given a prophecy that if he married an ugly woman & has a son then he would grow up to become the greatest King ever seen.
But King Naré was already married to a pretty Queen named Sassouma Bereté and had a son, Dankaran Tourman. Due to the prophecy, he ends up marrying Sogolon Kédjou, or the buffalo woman, so-called because of her hunchback and deemed not good-looking. She gives birth to Sundiata but he was born cripple & often became the subject of ridicule.
However, Sundiata was determined to do everything in order to walk like others. And one day he miraculously got up and started walking. The filmmakers turned this miracle into a gift given by the witch in In His Shadow. This one incident changed Sundiata’s life and people started recognising him as their true king and a brave leader.
But before King Naré Maghann Konaté could offer him the throne, he passed away. Taking chance on this situation Dankaran Tourman & his mother started taking control of the throne & being fearful about Sundiata’s well-being, Sogolon Kédjou flees along with other children. They travelled within the Ghana Empire and eventually to Mema, where the generous King gave them asylum & Sundiata a high position in court.
Their own homeland was, however, attacked and taken over by the King Soumaoro Kante of the Sosso. The kingdom was in shambles and the people realised they need to find Sundiata as he was destined to be a great leader according to prophecy. On their insistence, he returns accompanied by an army given to him by the King of Mema.
At The Battle of Kirina, Sundiata and his allies defeated the Sosso king, and he became the first Emperor of the Mali Empire. If we compare the film & the epic of Sundiata then you can clearly see the similarities in the story & how Adama embodies the Malian King.
Instead of being a cripple, he is portrayed as blind but with the help of the witch, he gets his vision back. While Sundiata defeated the Sosso king, the creators turned it into a family drama where he had to stand against his half-brother Ibrahim.
In His Shadow is currently streaming on Netflix.