Un homme qui crie (A Screaming Man)
Un homme qui crie (A Screaming Man)
Present-day Chad. Adam, sixty something, a former swimming champion, is pool attendant at a smart N'Djamena hotel. When the hotel gets taken over by new Chinese owners, he is forced to give up his job to his son Abdel. Terribly resentful, he feels socially humiliated. The country is in the throes of a civil war. Rebel forces are attacking the government. The authorities demand that the population contribute to the "war effort", giving money or volunteers old enough to fight off the assailants. The District Chief constantly harasses Adam for his contribution. But Adam is penniless; he only has his son.
4.2 out of 5 based on 11 reviews
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Omniscore:
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| Certificate |
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| Genre |
Foreign, Drama |
| Director |
Mahamat-Saleh Haroun |
| Cast |
Dioucounda Koma, Emile Abossolo M'bo Youssouf Djaoro |
| Studio |
Soda Pictures |
| Release Date |
May 2011 |
| Running Time |
92 mins |
| |
Present-day Chad. Adam, sixty something, a former swimming champion, is pool attendant at a smart N'Djamena hotel. When the hotel gets taken over by new Chinese owners, he is forced to give up his job to his son Abdel. Terribly resentful, he feels socially humiliated. The country is in the throes of a civil war. Rebel forces are attacking the government. The authorities demand that the population contribute to the "war effort", giving money or volunteers old enough to fight off the assailants. The District Chief constantly harasses Adam for his contribution. But Adam is penniless; he only has his son.
Reviews
The New York Times
Manohla Dargis
"A quiet, tender, finally wrenching story of an individual at the intersection of the personal and the political. "
12/04/2011
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The Times
Kevin Maher
"Don’t let the précis fool you. An African art-house movie set against the backdrop of the relentlessly grim Chadian civil war (45 years and counting!) might, in normal circumstances, send right-thinking cinemagoers fleeing ... And yet, crucially, there isn’t anything normal about A Screaming Man."
13/05/2011
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Variety
Robert Koehler
"Haroun's tender but unsentimental regard for his characters allows his storytelling a natural gravitas thoroughly suited to the simultaneously unfolding private and national tragedies. "
16/05/2011
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The New Yorker
Richard Brody
"Haroun raises [his characters'] drama to a universal, muffled cry of frustration and rage."
13/04/2011
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Total Film
Philip Kemp
"Deservedly taking home the Jury Prize in Cannes last year, the result is a moving, compassionate film, shot with near Ozu-like restraint."
09/05/2011
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Time Out
Dave Calhoun
"Haroun filters grand themes and issues into the most personal of stories, but he also creates space for reflection so that we can accept this as much more than a Chadian or even African tale."
11/05/2011
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Empire Magazine
William Thomas
"Haroun beautifully demonstrates how public tragedies inform private lives."
13/05/2011
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The Guardian
Steve Rose
"Betrayal, guilt, denial, faith and secrecy all roil about beneath the film's placid, almost wordless surface, which is beautifully observed with a stately, Ozu-like calmness."
12/05/2011
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The Evening Standard
Derek Malcolm
"An unforgettable snapshot of a failed country, and one of the best films out at the moment."
13/05/2011
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The Financial Times
Nigel Andrews
"The best African film in recent memory."
11/05/2011
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The Independent
Ben Walsh
"A powerful, harrowing experience. "
13/05/2011
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