#grigris

Grigris (2013) By Mahamat-Saleh Haroun

I’ve been interested to see the work of the Chadian director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun for while, and top of my list was Grigris (2013), Daratt (2006) and Abouna (2002). and i started with Grigris

Grigris starts with a promising plot, the charismatic dancer Souleymane Démé with a paralysed leg falls in love with a prostitute and joins a petrol traffickers gang to save his stepfather. but somehow the story falls short.

first of all lets start with element that got me a bit skeptic. i tried to move past the clique of the prostitute falling in love with the underdog but white cast a light skined mixed raced actress? played by the french actress Anaïs Monory. I’m sick of whitewashing in hollywood films but even in african films ! thats too much. and lets argue that the director wanted to cast a half-breed character to show she’s alienated by the society like Grigris feels still why not cast someone who looks like a Chadian half-breed, or at least someone who won’t stand out from all the cast you have. 

another thing that sounded unrealistic to me is when the couple Grigris and mimi runaway from the local gang to hide in small village (of mostly women) where Mimi’s  friend lives, there’s something unrealistic about how all the villagers accepts the new couple with open arms. and then when one of the gang member comes to look for Grigris they beat him to death and burn his car, a bit of a feminist twist but it’s too hard to swallow.

however on the other hand. i must admit that Mahamat- Saleh have a unique directional style. the silence in his film, how the character exchange long meaningful gaze at each other. the way he portrays Grigris as a real character rather then just exploit his disability. in fact he made me forget that i’m watching a character who suffers from a paralysed leg. and thats very rare to see in cinema as director usually love to exploit there characters to get the view sympathy. I love how the camera always keeps a safe distance from grigris leg and the only close ups on his face, as if saying focus on his story not on his disability.

Grigris

Seen in 2021: