Film / Hyenas

Their reign has just started.

Hyenas (Hyènes, in French) is a Senegalese film directed by Djibril Diop Mambéty that got released in 1992 (twenty years after the director's first feature film). It's an adaptation of Friedrich Dürrenmatt's The Visit, with added criticism of neocolonialism and consumerism in Senegal.

Dramaan Drameh is a very well-liked shopkeeper in the town of Colobane, which is facing bankruptcy after the closure of the town's factories. One day, a very rich lady called Linguère Ramatou comes to the town and promises to give them all of her riches in exchange for one thing: Dramaan Drameh's life.

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This film gives examples of:

• Adaptation Name Change: With the setting changing from Switzerland to Senegal, this was bound to happen.
  • Alfred III became Dramaan Drameh.
  • Claire Zachanassian became Linguère Ramatou.
  • Matilda/Mrs. III became Khoudia Lo.
  • Claire's butler, Boby, became Gaana Mbow.
• Adapted Out: Claire's seventh husband. It's implied her counterpart, Linguère, never got married after dating Dramaan.
• An Arm and a Leg: The Lady has only one of her legs and one of her hands, using prosthetics to replace them. She says it's the result of a plane crash.
• Animal Motif: Hyenas, of course. They represent the people of the village who soon start to prey on Dramaan's (living) corpse after Linguère's proposal.
• The Bad Guy Wins: The townsfolk really do a "trial" and condemn Dramaan to death.
• Blatant Lies: The Chief of Police and the Mayor insist they're not going to accept Linguère's offer, while sporting brand new shoes, planning to rebuild the city hall (which was almost seized in the start) and buying loads of expensive home appliances.
• Came Back with a Vengeance: The townspeople do remember Linguère and she makes no secret of her identity, but she was exiled as a poor teenage mother and has now reinvented herself as a fabulously rich woman as part of her revenge.
• Deal with the Devil: What the town's citizens do.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Most people in town are just called by their professional title: the Mayor, the Officer, the Mayor's Wife. Even Linguère is generally called the Lady.
• Foreshadowing: When it's known that Linguère is coming back, the town's council reunites to decide how to welcome her. The teacher then makes an effort to remember her and specifically mentions she had a great memory, specially to tell stories, never leaving any detail out.
• The Oldest Profession: Linguère Ramatou had to be a prostitute to survive after losing her kid and leaving Colobane humiliated. It's part of what drives her revenge.
  While Gaana conducts Dramaan's first "trial".
  Gaana Mbow: What has happened to the child?
  Linguère Ramatou: She lived for a year.
  Gaana Mbow: And you, Linguère Ramatou, what happened to you?
  Linguère Ramatou: I became a whore, from continent to continent. A prostitute!

Also:

While the doctor and the teacher try to convince her to reopen the town's factories, without having to kill Dramaan.

Linguère Ramatou: I left Colobane with people looking down at me well into my pregnancy. And here I am, mother of no one. I am the one offering the deal, and I'm stating my conditions. The world has made me into a whore... And I'll turn the world into a whorehouse.

• Race Lift: As a result of the setting being changed from Switzerland to Senegal, all the characters are black when they were white in the original play.
• Revenge: The whole story happens due to it. Dramaan and Linguère were lovers thirty years ago. He impregnated her and later refused to admit the child was his, paying off two random dudes with wine to say in court they slept with her. Dramaan then married the richer (at the time) Khoudia Lo. Linguère left the town humiliated by the townsfolk, her baby died after living for one year and she had to become a prostitute to survive. So now she wants Dramaan's hide.
• Rule of Symbolism: Everything. The Lady's prosthetics are made of gold, the teacher is the only one who attempts to dissuade the population from killing Dramaan, the people changing their minds about killing Draman after receiving imported goods.
• Screw the Money, I Have Rules!: The initial reaction of the towns citizens to the proposal, of course it eventually turns into...
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Ramatou insists she is able to buy the court and the citizens and is eventually shown to be right.
• Southern Gothic Satan: Linguère Ramatou, the Lady. She got banished from Colobane at 17 after Dramaan impregnated (and abandoned) her, lying that he wasn't the baby's father, and now that she's the richest person around ("as rich as the World Bank") she wants to give the townsfolk her money in exchange for his death. The town ends up accepting the deal and ends up improved, but with the knowledge of what they did to gain the money tainting their enjoyment.
• Those Two Guys: The guys who lied in court about having slept with Linguère and got castrated after. They constantly show up together.
• Title Drop: Happens when The Valet (and ex president of Colobane's court), Gaana Mbow, tells the Lady about the people raiding Dramaan's shop after he freaks out and leaves.
  Gaana: The time has come. They're raiding the grocery store.
  Linguère Ramatou: Already? The reign of hyenas has come.
• The Voiceless: Linguère's entourage (except for Gaana) never speak a single word onscreen.