Actor Omar Sy, star of ‘Father and Soldier’: “Wearing the uniform in which so many Senegalese riflemen died in the Great War has impressed me a lot”

In the wake of the tremendous (and Oscar-winning) new German adaptation from All Quiet Front the french arrives father and soldier another film about the First World War, that conflict that has produced so many good films (The Great Illusion, Paths of Glory, Captain Conan…). father and soldier which premieres in Spain on May 26 and which could be seen at the BCN Film Fest in Barcelona, ​​tells the story of a Senegalese cowherd, Bakari Diallo, who enlists in the French colonial army to protect his son Thierno, enlisted by force. Sent both to fight the Germans in France integrated into the famous Senegalese rifle corps (Senegalese tirailleurs), who was the main element of the “black force” of the French army, father and son live together the horror of trench warfare, while the father tries by all means that his son does not die in a conflict in which 30,000 of the 180,000 mobilized corps soldiers perished, one in six. Bakari Diallo is played by Omar Sy (Trappes, France, 45 years old), the famous actor with Senegalese roots from Untouchable and from the series lupine who has visited Barcelona on the occasion of the festival and received, first, one of the contest’s honorary prizes, and second, that of best actor, since father and soldier participated in the competition.

What was it like to be a Senegalese rifleman in World War I? “He was just like the movie describes,” replies Sy, a tall, stocky man whose head you’d envy a Benin bronze and whose body anyone would envy. “They were very isolated, first because of the language, most of them did not speak French, but Peul, which is what Bakari and his son speak. [y es la lengua de los padres del propio Sy], or Wolof, or other dialects, so they didn’t understand what was going on. And then there was this horrible war that was beyond the comprehension of anyone from Senegal: they didn’t know who they were fighting against, or why. We must add the winter weather conditions at the front: the Africans died of cold, they were not adapted to that hostile world. Without forgetting that many Senegalese had been recruited, as seen in the film, with methods typical of the slave trade, kidnapping them”.

Sy, who regrets not having seen yet No news at the front, reflects that being black in the Great War, when the inhabitants of Senegal did not have the category of French citizens, was simply being “a colonial tool and nothing more.” Curiously, father and soldier does not show episodes of racism (on the contrary, the white lieutenant Chambreau exhibits a surprising lack of prejudice, although it is also true that for suicide missions color does not matter much), and some interracial love story is even suggested, in addition to the fact that mentions that at least black non-commissioned officers could go to military brothels. “The fraternity of the front predominated,” says the actor. “They were in a war and they were fighting together, in a way all the French soldiers were brothers in arms. They all felt the same vulnerability in the face of the carnage on the front”.

Omar Sy, with his movie son, in ‘Father and Soldier’.

In the US Army, blacks fought separately. “The United States is another story, which deserves another film, the story we are talking about is that of the French colonial troops. In the US, slavery was still a recent phenomenon. The actor says he does not feel particularly attracted to the fight for the integration of the buffalo soldiers (the blacks who fought in the campaigns against the Indians) or the Tuskegee Airmen (the black airmen of World War II). “Although I really like the story in general,” she warns. He himself says that his military experience is “nil”. Well, not anymore. The actor laughs heartily. He points out that playing a soldier has not been difficult for him, especially since the one he plays, Bakari, is one despite himself, by force, and never integrates into military logic, unlike the son, who arrives to sergeant “Actually on paper I like the father side better than the soldier side,” he says.

He has been impressed, yes, by wearing the Senegalese rifleman’s uniform. “A lot, it has been very strong to see myself with him in the mirror. He did several tests and I thought a lot about wearing it before we started shooting, I was worried about how to wear it. Many died wearing that uniform, he felt a responsibility. Then the weight of all that was less than he thought, probably because he had already internalized it ”. The actor is aware of the problems that old colonial fighters and their families have had to receive pensions. “They were forced to spend six months in France to be entitled to a pension, which was terribly unfair,” he points out.

In the movie, with a point of Save Private Thierno, there are many very emotional moments, and also a lot of tension and conflict, between father and son. “The film also shows the process of becoming an adult and the need to kill your father, metaphorically, to become a man.” Omar Sy finds it very interesting that a parallel is established in the film between the father-son relationship of the protagonists and that between the French lieutenant and his father, his general.

Thierno is played by Alassane Diong, who happens to be Sy’s nephew. “That has been both a very good thing and a complication, we had to forget the relationship to create the roles; but we had a great time and Alassane is a great actor”. On the other hand, another actor in the cast, the Senegalese Alassane Sy, despite having the same last name as Omar, is not related to him.

From the criticism that has been made of father and soldier Due to its ambiguity between anti-war and patriotism, Sy believes that “the first thing was to pay tribute to those soldiers and remember them and remember their role in the First World War. Then, let each one interpret the story as he wants ”.

A Senegalese soldier, during the First World War, in France.
A Senegalese soldier, during the First World War, in France. GETTY IMAGES

The actor has lavished himself on comedy, but in this film there is no space to show his gifts for the genre. “Of course, there is zero comedy, in a war story like that there cannot be. Of Untouchable, He points out that he owes many things to that film, “among them being here, essentially my entire career as it has gone is a consequence of that film.” Omar Sy is surprised to tell him about the success he has among the female audience. “I didn’t know, and I certainly don’t consider myself a sex symbol”, he says with a big smile. Are trenches worse than velociraptors? Sy, who played animal handler Barry Sembène who takes care of the dangerous theropod dinosaurs in jurassicworldHe laughs at the comparison. “Without a doubt the trenches are worse, because they were real.” He has also done several superhero movies. “I like diversity, they are different ways of telling history; I see my career as a path in which each project leads me to the next”.

He is very happy with the tribute from the Barcelona festival and a little surprised because he considers that he is still young for an honorary award and his career, he says, is still short. It seems inevitable to ask him what he thinks of the situation in France and the riots against Macron. “What happens in France is the confirmation of the freedom that exists in the country,” he emphasizes. When he gets up at the end of the interview, it seems that the striped sweater he is wearing has become the muddy greatcoat of Bakary, the devoted rifleman father, and he leaves the room enveloped in Léopold Sédar Senghor’s verses in homage to those troops, who they suffered so much and distinguished themselves: “Vous, mes frères obscurs, personne ne vous nomme / dans ces jours de peur sans mémoire / recevez le salut de vos camarades noirs, Tirailleurs Sénégalais”.

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Actor Omar Sy, star of ‘Father and Soldier’: “Wearing the uniform in which so many Senegalese riflemen died in the Great War has impressed me a lot”