Review of Sugar Cane Alley

In Sugar Cane Alley, Medouze reveals what he considers to be the secret to life, telling Jose, "Don't think that water and fire are enemies ... No! They are the forces of creation. the other to create life." It is precisely this duality which defines the underlying framework of the entire film. The contrast between Dionysus and Apollo, as this duality would be described by Nietzsche, is the source of artistic expression of the will - …

…to the African culture of the world in which he grew up. However, he still has access to enough of that European world to be able to rise above the fate of others around him. Instead of clinging to either and carving his identity out of the world around him, he is influenced by both and neither of the two worlds at the same time - and is able to create his own individual identity.