You can be forgiven for thinking that you are watching an African version of Saturday Night Fever in the opening sequences of this movie which captures an energetic man whirling around at full speed on the dance floor in his bright shiny white dress shirt. The excited audience are enthralled with this man’s gymnastic dancing and are screaming out his name and filling his hat with money. The man is Souleymane, known to the crowd as Gris Gris, and what’s most remarkable about his spectacular dance routine is that he has one paralysed leg that he drags behind him when he walks but somehow seems not to restrict his dancing at all. The setting is N’Djamena the capital of Chad one of the poorest countries in the continent, and Souleymane dances just to get by. He also works with his stepfather taking photographs in their rather decrepit shack where the only source of power is via a small generator but there are few and far between customers these days. When his stepfather is hospitalised with serious illness, and his mother is facing a very steep bill for his care, Souleymane realises that he needs to find work that pays some serious money.
He persuades a local crime lord to give him some work in his gas-smuggling operation, but on one of the runs double crosses by selling off the hauls himself and keeps the proceeds to pay the hospital. Moussa the boss and his henchman are soon on to him and after beating up the helpless dancer threaten to kill him if he doesn’t repay the money within 24 hours.
The only friend that Soulelamyne has is Mimi a local whore who he had originally met when she came to him asking for some photographs to kickstart a modelling career. She takes a shine to this shy deformed man who not only comes alive when the dance floor lights are turned on, but more importantly he is one of the few men in the community who treats her with respect. The two of them escape back to her village and where they both eventually find some peace.
In other words far from simply being another John Travolta homage this movie ….. the first ever to be funded by the Chadian Government…. really covers the waterfront. Violence, sex, robbery, sickness, poverty, disability and even a very strong feminist message at the end. Written and directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (who in 2010 made the excellent ‘A Screaming Man‘ also set in Chad) , this is also the first film that Chad has ever submitted for Best Foreign Picture Oscar Nomination. Startling for a country that just re-opened its only movie theater in 2011 after being shuttered for 20 years. And impressive for the fact that Souleymane Démé whose disability is very real and puts in a powerful performance, has never ever acted before. It’s a very dynamic movie to watch, and even more compelling when you realise that although this particular story may be fictional, the circumstances it is set in, are very real.
Highly recommended.
P.S. ‘grisgris’ is actually the name of an African good luck charm, so I still cannot fathom out why people should call poor luckless Souleymane that.
★★★★★★★★
