12 Great Movies That Are Visually Flat

A 1975 Senegalese film made by Ousmane Sembene, who is one of Africa's most significant directors, Xala is a classic of African cinema and a darkly funny, truly scathing satire of corruption in Africa's post-independence governments.

Xala is a very interesting movie and the story - a corrupt businessman is cursed with erectile dysfunction on the day of his marriage to his third wife - is right on-point, but the cinematography and visuals are pretty awful.

With uninteresting camerawork and a low-budget, TV-movie vibe to the whole thing, Xala is certainly not a pretty picture. This is a clever film which is still an enjoyable, stimulating watch and a very good work of writing (aside from some poorly-written female characters) but on a visual level it underwhelms. It's certainly not something you should feel any particular need to catch on the big screen.