Those Whom Death Refused (1988)
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- The story of a woman (Bia Gomes) who searches through the country for her husband (Tunu Eugenio Almada), a resistant, while the war for independence is raging. She finds him at last and saves his life. When peace finally arrives, they have to learn how to be together again and start living in a destroyed land.
- Actors:
- Bia Gomes, Tunu Eugenio Almada, Mamadu Uri Balde, Pedro da Silva, Flora Gomes, Homna Nalete, M'Male Nhasse
- Directors:
- Flora Gomes
- Producers:
- Maria Cecilia Fonseca, Jacques Zajdermann
- Writers:
- Manuel Rambout Barcelos, Flora Gomes, David Lang
- Aka:
- Mortu Nega
- Genres:
- Action & Adventure, Drama
- Countries:
- Guinea Bissau
More like Those Whom Death Refused
Found in these customers lists
Reviews (1) of Those Whom Death Refused
The Quiet Fight for Freedom - Those Whom Death Refused review by griggs
Those Whom Death Refused is more significant than it is gripping, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth your time. As the first film to come out of Guinea-Bissau, its historical weight is undeniable. Rather than glorify the war for independence, Flora Gomes presents it as something quieter, more patient–no grand speeches, no rousing battles. Just ordinary people enduring extraordinary hardship. Telling this story through the eyes of a woman feels both rare and powerful.
Some scenes do have a tendency to drag, especially when the film leans into slow observational stretches. But others linger–particularly the moment news spreads of the independence leader’s death. The camera holds still as grief ripples across the camp, and you feel the weight of everything these people have survived.
This is less a war film than a mournful reflection–not for those who died, but for those left behind to rebuild, to rediscover their identity, and to imagine a future rooted in their own beliefs, myths, and culture.