Advanced Search >
Help Me Search

Movies

Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
Best / Worst of the Decade

Wide Releases
Now In Theaters

sort by namesort by score

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Limited Releases
Now In Theaters

sort by namesort by score

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Abouna

EMAILPRINTLeisure Time Features

Abouna reviews
70
9.0 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 10 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 2 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >

Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama  |  Foreign

Written by: Mahamat-Saleh Haroun

Directed by: Mahamat-Saleh Haroun

Release Date:
Theatrical: February 20, 2004
DVD: May 17, 2005

Running Time: 84 minutes, Color

Origin: France / Chad

Language(s): French (with English subtitles)

Summary

RATING: Not Rated

Starring Ahidjo Mahamat Moussa, Hamza Moctar Aguid, Zara Haroun, Mounira Khalil, and Hassan Boulama

Set in the sub-Saharan country of Chad, this is the story of two young brothers and their mother who are devastated when their father suddenly disappears.

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Film Threat Phil Hall

Truly magnificent.

Read Full Review >
80

The New York Times Dana Stevens

Poignant though it is, the movie is the opposite of depressing. There is too much life in it.

Read Full Review >
75

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Haroun is deft at handling the joys and pain of childhood. He neither condescends nor ­­over-sentimentalizes. It is a story of separation anxiety (for Amine) and coming of age (for Tahir) and it's universal.

Read Full Review >
70

Variety David Stratton

Haroun's film is both touching and, ultimately, almost perversely optimistic.

Read Full Review >
70

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

By way of a tragic left hook, Haroun's relaxed movie climaxes back where it began, on the devastated home ground. The journey, however pessimistic, is like a gentle handshake.

Read Full Review >
70

TV Guide Ken Fox

Haroun and cinematographer Abraham Haile Biru carefully frame their characters with a painterly elegance that is at times truly startling.

Read Full Review >
70

The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann

The story of the film is a quiet local tale; the directing is sophisticated.

Read Full Review >
70

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Abouna starkly defines the masculine and feminine influence in raising children, and what happens when they're not so complementary.

Read Full Review >
70

Chicago Reader Fred Camper

Understated but affecting.

Read Full Review >
50

New York Post Megan Lehmann

This modest little film out of Africa suffers from largely rudderless direction, relying for any sense of profundity on the breathtaking beauty of Abraham Haile Biru's cinematography.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

M. Daye gave it a10:
Sometimes silence can say so much more than blocks of mawkish dialogue. Brilliantly-acted and wonderfully shot.

Moeder D. gave it an8:
Understated, beguiling, and gorgeously filmed; more heart than you'll see in any Hollywood blockbuster this year.

Popular on CBS sites: College Signing Day | Olympics | Lost | iPhone | Cell Phones | Video Game Reviews | Free Music

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2010 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy (UPDATED) | Terms of Use