Film: Sounds Of Sand
Release date: 5th April 2010
Certificate: 12
Running time: 92 mins
Director: Marion Hänsel
Starring: Issaka Sawadogo, Carole Karemara
Genre: Drama
Studio: Bluebell
Format: DVD
Country: France/Belgium
Sometimes a film’s greatest strength can also be its greatest weakness. The story that drives Marion Hansel’s film is as old as the hills, and one of the most recognisable in the world. Tales of families travelling great distances and enduring tremendous hardships can be found everywhere, from the Book Of Exodus in the Bible to Battlestar Galactica.
This French and Belgian co-production is based on the award-winning novel Chamelle by Marc Durin-Valois, and it tells the story of Rahne (played by Issaka Swadogo), who leads his family on an epic trek to find water during a drought around the Horn of Africa.
Along the way, he faces all manner of hardships, from the unbearable heat of the desert to rebel forces – and he has to make many sacrifices along the way…
On the plus side, some of the cinematography is stunning. There are long sweeping shots of the African plains that truly add to the atmosphere and realism of the film. This is also a film that does not attempt to gloss over the hardships and difficulties that many people face in the region. Just when you thought it could not get any worse for Rahne and his family, it does.
The never-ending misery does make this a difficult film to watch. There are no laughs, and the only joy is in watching Rahne’s delightful daughter, Shasha (played by Asma Nouman Aden). And therein lays the problem with the film. It is genuinely hard going. You will need a brave heart to make it through to the end.
Part of the issues lies with the pacing - there is no snappy editing to quicken the pace, for example. The beginning of the film is let down by long, talky scenes between groups of characters. Instead of cutting to close-ups, and giving these scenes a bit of much-needed dynamism, the camera just sits there filming a large shot. It’s a bit like watching a BBC drama from the 1970s. Everything just seems stilted and slow. Admittedly, this is perhaps due to the way we now watch films. Taking Hollywood films, as an example, they can generally overcome their awful plots or poor acting, because they move on so quickly. Sounds Of Sand harks back to a much slower-paced age, when actors really had to act, as opposed to just filling in the gaps before the next CGI explosion.
At times, it also becomes a little too worthy for its own good. As a viewer, you really sympathise with Rahne’s plight, but the temptation to fast forward to the end and make sure that even he survives is overwhelming. Rest assured, there is a happy ending – of sorts.
As a human drama, you have to applaud Marion Hansel for delivering a film that is as unflinching as it is harrowing, but if you are new to world cinema, then this is not really the best place to start. There are other films out there that deliver similar stories in a much better way. It may only be 92 minutes, but it feels a lot longer.
The DVD does also come with an informative forty-minute documentary on how they made the film. It’s a lot easier to watch than the main attraction, and a lot more interesting to boot. At one point, the author of Chamelle reckons his book is untranslatable. Read into that what you will. JH
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