"Neither chains nor masters" is an uncompromising film which, through the personal story of a slave and his daughter, tells the general story of this shameful and shameless system called slavery.
At the same time clearly situated in time (1759) and timeless, the same goes for the place, both precise (Mauritius) and universal (the system is always the same, with hardly a few variations).
The harshness of the working conditions (in this case, harvesting sugar cane), the cruelty of the masters (in this case, the wealthy Eugène Larcenet) and the arrogance of the authorities who deny Africans any humanity (in this case, the island's governor) is exposed without concessions.
Another interest of Simon Montaïrou's first film is to put us in the shoes of the slaves, their thoughts, their beliefs, their sufferings, while giving only a secondary role to the whites. We are thus put in the shoes of the pursued rather than the pursuers. It's an interesting point of view, which assuredly doesn't make viewers feel at ease (but "Ni chaînes ni maîtres" isn't up for the best feel-good film award!), but brings them closer to a mentality and way of being that's foreign to them.
The direction is dynamic, adopting the rhythm of the chase. The whole thing is really well-made, which is all the more impressive given that it was shot far from anywhere, in difficult geographical and climatic conditions. Antoine Sanier's meticulous photography adapts to the different settings and moods (candlelight at Larcenet's lunch, iridescent blur when fugitive slave Massamba feels weak, nighttime killing scene lit only intermittently by lightning).
There's also an extraordinary sequence in which Massada is pursued by a dog in a river before the two of them are swept away by a waterfall, ending up dozens of meters below in the watercourse, where the pursuit continues...
Very good acting, especially from Ibrahima Mbaye (Massamba, the slave who believed he could come to terms with the whites), Anna Diakhere Thiandoum (Mati, his rebellious daughter) and the most astonishing, Camille Cottin, all in black, long-haired, with a slender classy figure in a role cast against type, that of Madame La Victoire, a fierce slave hunter. A trying but intense film, to be seen urgently.
