Lingui, The Sacred Bonds

A mother and daughter in Chad face a precarious moral dilemma.

Almost twenty years ago the Chadian writer/director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun became a name to note. But, if that was achieved by Abouna and confirmed in 2006 by Daratt, the film which truly revealed the scope of his talent was A Screaming Man (2010). Like much of his work Lingui, The Sacred Bonds is set in N’Djamena, the capital of Chad, and many critics have seen this new film as a return to form. As always with Haroun, the piece has its heart in the right place but regrettably I do not feel that the full potential of the film is realised.

Lingui is a contemporary portrait of life in Chad and has at its centre Amina, a single mother (Achouackh Abakar Souleymane) and her fifteen-year-old daughter Maria (Rihane Khalil Alio). Very early on in the story Maria is expelled from her school for being pregnant and it is quickly apparent that the girl wants an abortion. Even if her mother were not a sincere Muslim holding to Islamic beliefs, this would create serious difficulties since in Chad a doctor detected in such a practice would risk a jail sentence and lose his license. But, if the situation initially finds mother and daughter at loggerheads, in time it cements their closeness for Amina comes to accept Maria's wishes and seeks to help her. The bonds of the film’s title are referenced in a family context, but instead the general thrust of the film suggests that the real ties that count in this way are those between the women in this society as they are driven to act against the male codes of conduct that dominate.

Important though Maria’s role is, the chief focus here is on her mother and Achouackh Abakar Souleymane contributes a strong performance in this role. But, while the film’s viewpoint will win much sympathy, a tale as intimate as this seems ill-suited to being shot in ’Scope: the widescreen draws attention to the pictorial side of the film, but even the striking colours of the costume seem at odds with the grittiness of the story. It is the case that some of the plot developments could have come across as melodramatic and Haroun is careful to play against that possibility. In the process, however, a certain lack of urgency is felt despite the fact that Maria’s situation is so acute. Later this year we are due to see a French film about abortion, Happening, a work of immense impact. That piece is so different in tone that a comparison is hardly fair to Lingui, but it does bring out the extent to which Haroun’s film despite its courage and its qualities fails to hit home to the extent that one would have hoped.

MANSEL STIMPSON

Cast: Achouackh Abakar Souleymane, Rihane Khalil Alio, Youssouf Djaoro, Briya Gomdigue, Hadjé Fatimé N’Goua, Saleh Sambo, Hamid Khayar, Aïssa Mbogo, Adjide Mahamay.

Dir Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Pro Melanie Andernach, Diana Elbaum and Florence Stern, Screenplay Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Ph Mathieu Giombini, Pro Des Patrick Dechesne, Ed Marie-Hélène Dozo, Music Wasis Diop, Costumes Jeremie Ngarbey Mianrabel and Haroun Dogo Bardua.

Pili Films/Goï Goï Productions/Canal+/Proximus/Belaga Tree-Mubi.
88 mins. France/Chad/Germany/Belgium. 2021. UK Rel: 4 February 2022. Cert. 15.