Abouna - Nosso Pai

There is no doubt that "Abouna" (Our Father) is a good African film as it features extremely fine performances from its young actors about a tragic tale which is both inspirational as well as entertaining.As far as inspirational material is concerned,there is a lot to learn in "Abouna" for two brothers named Tahir and Amine as their fragile, innocent lives are transformed as a result of a sudden,unexpected disappearance of their father.One can say that African cinema is full of many ignored masters of cinema.This is the reason why a film based in Africa can never be devoid of cinema.This has been depicted in this film by showing a cinema hall with posters of many great films.It is really a miracle of sorts that Chadian filmmaker Mahamat Saleh Haroun was able to make this film despite numerous financial hardships.As Abouna has been hailed at many film festivals all over the world,it can be said that it can easily be recognized one of those films which has the necessary potential to lead many African film industries on their paths to success.

I read that this was the first feature length film from Chad (meaning, fully financed, with most cast/crew from Chad). So it is worth seeing just for that, to honor the filmmakers who, amidst all endeavours of making a film in a country that lacks resources for local cinema, were able to get things done. But one thing that struck me the most, technically, was the lighting in this film. Using layered structures of fore and backgrounds, for instance a character would be in the foreground sitting in a dark room by the window. He would appear as a dark silhouette, surrounded by a dark room, but in the back ground we see the view from outside the window. They obviously set their light exposures to outside to get the effect, but it is noticeable because of it being used several times. This and many other conscious decisions comment on the abilities of the filmmakers and their wilingness to employ the tricks of the trade, even if local cinema in Chad is very new.

Jesus Christ this was boring.

I don't really know anything about the conditions of African cinema, but I can't imagine they exactly have a bustling industry, so I wouldn't want to go too hard on this.

But man it was boring.

The narrative forgets what it's doing every 20 minutes to go in a completely different direction, and doesn't end with any kind of satisfying resolution at all, the two brothers have virtually no character other than a desire to find their dad, and god is it shot so basically.

This is in addition to the fact that the younger kid's acting is frankly terrible, although everyone else is quite good, he does really drag down some scenes. There was one moment between these two kids that really came across as very realistic and genuine to me, as someone with a little brother, but that was kind of it.

I guess the soundtrack was okay too?

Oh well, sorry if this is considered a masterpiece of African cinema or something, but I didn't get along with it.

I really felt like I got to know something about Amine and Tahir, as well as their African land and people. The cinematography is calm, reflective and colourful. It was interesting how the story skipped over climactic points, leaving it to the viewer to fill in what was being led up to.

Perhaps most remarkable is that the film held the complete attention of my seven year old brother. At one stage he said "I know where he left his medicine". This is proof that story still has power and that the non-stop eye candy of films like "Cars" is not all it's made out to be. Abouna is a story well told.

On the surface a simple, affecting tale of two sons' search for their absent father, Abouna is actually a film of some sophistication.

At one point the brothers visit a cinema. The posters outside advertise the African film Yaaba, Chaplin's The Kid and most notably Jim Jarmusch's Stranger Than Paradise (hardly likely to be topping the bill in Chad). Other posters which would have been apt include "Pather Panchali", "Les Quatre Cent Coups" and any one of a number of recent Iranian movies.

Jarmusch's elliptical style of story-telling seems a particular influence, all of the obvious plot points (a kiss, a capture, a death) occur off-camera and the dialogue is more about what is not said than about what is. I do wonder a little whether an audience in Chad would buy this deadpan style or whether the film is really aimed at the First World art-house audience, but for me it works well.

There seems to be a metaphor in the idea of the absent father, perhaps relating to a country that the director feels has lost its way after many years of colonialism and war. The central family is not poor by African standards, but life is still harsh.

Much of the music is by the Malian guitarist Ali Farka Toure, and you can really hear the African roots of the Blues in his playing. The images of landscape, skin, children playing are beautiful.