24 August 2008
Fred from Friends of FILM CLUB

The movie begins with a man walking across a desert, who then turns to stare into the camera with a look of regret and hesitation in his eyes.  The viewers instantly feel as though they know the man. This look stays with you for the rest of the film and that is how you remember the man. The film centres around the lives of two children - Tahir and Amine- after their father, this man, leaves his family.  The name of the film, ?¢‚Ǩ?ìAbouna?¢‚Ǩ¬ù means ?¢‚Ǩ?ìOur father?¢‚Ǩ¬ù. In Abouna the most important events of the story are not emphasised or highlighted -  neither with music nor by prolonging them, to signify that it is from a child?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s perspective, disjointed and almost unreal. This film has tragedy at its core and is very emotionally powerful.
I think this film is deceptively simple; it appears as though it is just about two boys looking for their father.  But it also has a deeper message - that of freedom. The music used in the soundtrack is amazing and it is a pity that the music was not used more often .  The director, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, has made this film truly beautiful. He has arranged all the shots very carefully using colours, and shadows and light to great affect.  Another interesting thing about the director is that he is in favour of cutting as little as possible and having lots of wide shots. The cinematography is good too and the shots are very well framed.
This film may surprise people who do not like foreign films with subtitles. After about ten minutes watching this movie you forget about the subtitles and just start to relate to characters imagining what you would feel in their situation.  Although this film is brilliant I have to give it 4/5 stars because I found it slightly slow paced. If you like watching films that you can sit back and enjoy this is not the movie for you but if you like movies that make you see things differently then you should see Abouna.