Daratt (2006)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Mahamat-Saleh Haroun

Writer:

Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (writer)

Release Date:

27 December 2006 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Chad, 2006. After a forty-year civil war, the radio announces the government has just amnestied the war criminals...

Plot Keywords:

Civil War | War Criminal | Baker | Dead Father | Vengeance

Awards:

9 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Ali Barkai	...	Atim
Youssouf Djaoro	...	Nassara
Aziza Hisseine	...	Aicha, la femme de Nassara
Khayar Oumar Defallah	...	Gumar Abatcha, le grand-père d'Atim
Djibril Ibrahim	...	Moussa
Hadje Fatime N'Goua	...	La tante de Moussa (as Fatimé Hadje)
Garba Issa	...	Le voisin de Nassara
Abderamane Abakar	...	Le soldat du taxi brousse

Also Known As:

Dry Season (International: English title) (festival title)
Saison sèche (France)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

Chad | France | Belgium | Austria

Language:

Arabic | French

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Netherlands:6 | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Chad

Company:

Chinguitty Films

Soundtrack:

Yeo da

Compelling tale of revenge

Mahamat-Saleh Haroun's story is remarkable in it's starkness of setting - the desert of Chad - and in the manner in which it unfolds. This is a two-hander in which there is very little dialogue - one can't talk and the other won't. This creates an almost surreal element to the film, where hatred seethes through silent glares.

When the Chad Commission for Truth and Justice grants amnesty to some 200 war criminals, the elderly Gumar Abatcha gives his dead son's pistol to his orphaned grandson Atim and dispatches him to kill the murderer of Atim's father. Living far away, Nassara is a dangerous man who now ekes out a living as a baker, trying to forget his past. When Atim finds him, he insinuates himself into Nassara's life with the intent of exacting revenge. Dry Season would make an excellent companion film to Death and the Maiden (1994), Roman Polanski's thrilling film version of a play about political repression and revenge in Central America.

I find it unfortunate that we have to wait for festivals to see films like this (I saw it at the Melbourne International Film Festival). It depicts a culture we know virtually nothing about, is visually stunning and was thoroughly engaging. An excellent film.