Foreign Film Series: Abouna
The lives of two brothers who live in N'djamena are upended when they awake one Saturday morning to find that their father has left the family. They are Amine, about eight years old, playful and asthmatic, and Tahir, fifteen, handsome, quiet, and his brother's protector. The boys go in search of their father and find only trouble. Dad's leaving also debilitates their mother. Haroun gives us a glimpse of central Africa's soul with this simple yet powerful tale. The film has an accomplished visual style. It is beautifully shot with a superior sense of style and color, catching the feel of the settings nicely without either falling into cliché or locking the action too specifically in a time or place. This means that even those of us who have never experienced such a life can identify with Tafir and Amine's situation. The plot can be read allegorically as the story of Chad itself, a people adrift and badly in need of returning to their true roots.