庭外的一角

　　The film accompanies Magaye Niyang, a star of Touki-Bouki, a 1972 classic directed by her own uncle Djibril Diop. Following this path, we are witness of Niyang travel to a special screening of the film, which has a public release in his old town. Niyang seems detached and with a heavy longing from the past, and therefore, the film debris permeates everything with unescapable sorrow and fascination.
　　Diop film is, first and foremost, a nostalgic travel through memory, time and recreation. It is also a watermark in contemporary experimental documentary, a very intimate portrait of a lost long journey through the past that isn’t returning anymore, a detachment of rejected fame, recognition and connection which is heavily grounded on a legacy that belongs to the past, and that connects directly to a country (Senegal) and its heritage, which is sometimes feel excruciating for the old ones (a testimony such as the taxi scene in the film, where the cab driver longs for changes, and claims that the old generation had done nothing for that).
　　Mille Soleils (A Thousand Suns) and, in itself, Mati Diop’s crucial talent, should be a point of reference into what could easily be one of the most interesting proposals of hybrid documentary cinema which has come from France, and which deals with a strong African heritage. Since 35 Rhums, where she proved her actress talent, Diop seems like a true promise for the following years of cinema.

　　韦小宝（李小飞）刁钻聪敏，自小随母居扬州妓院，因义气助天地会人打退清兵，被老太监私禁宫中冒充小太监。后与少年皇帝康熙（周绍栋）成莫逆之交，并协助消灭奸臣成宫中红人。宝更误打误撞得天地会总舵主暗中收为弟子，要他伺机刺杀康，宝感左右为难。
　　宝无意得悉神龙教派人假扮太后潜服宫中十多年，企图盗取大清命脉藏宝图，真太后则被囚禁，康遂联合宝，几经艰险，救出太后。宝往保护老皇帝顺治途中，巧遇少女阿珂（陈玉玫），神魂颠倒。宝施妙计令康父子团聚，又挑拨神龙教人自相残杀，再建一功。
　　宝衣锦还乡，重遇阿珂，后更得七女同时下嫁，尽亨齐人之福。不久，江山大统，康命宝消灭天地会，宝始知康早洞悉自己秘密……