A Screaming Man

Chad, 92 minutes, French
Director: Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
Cast: Youssouf Djaoro, Diouc Koma, Emil Abossolo M’bo

Set in war-torn Chad, “A Screaming Man” visually explores a complex relationship between a washed-up father and his ambitious son. The film portrays a dramatic message that spans beyond standard loving familial relationships by exploiting themes of jealousy, expectation and dishonor. The film’s establishment of such ideas is both provocative and emotionally stimulating for the viewer.

As a hotel swimming pool attendant, Champ is validated by his job and place amongst society. This pool signifies everything from freedom to income to a sense of drowning in isolation – but it mostly remains a source of solitude throughout the film for Champ, creating a catalyst for an abyss of distance between the father and his son Abdel.

Although the film feels draining at times through its long periods of silence, this silence is what captures Champ’s personality best. He is a man of few words, whereas his son is a man of many. The contrast of the two men is first shown when Abdel is adamant about taking pictures throughout his day, chronicling his simple lifestyle. Abdel is approachable and smiling, completely in contrast of his distant, straight-faced father.

Abdel is also a pool attendant at the hotel, but lacks the responsibility his father feels toward his job.
“Pool attendants wear white,” the disapproving veteran Champ tells his color-laden son.

The dialogue between the two men, particularly in this scene, represents their opposition in lifestyle and opinion in a quick way, but the film focuses more on deciphering visual differences to show their differences.
This white uniform, signifying a sense of pride in Champ, is blatantly disregarded by his son.

Abdel is seen as an even bigger disruption to his father’s life when he is out of uniform amongst the poolside’s white umbrellas and white-clothed chairs.
The true animosity and jealousy amongst these two is not portrayed because Champ is switched over to be a gate keeper and Abdel to become the sole pool attendant, but through the way this scene is filmed.

The narrative structure is basic – Champ is confused to be shunned at the entrance gate, meets with his manager about his job, gets moved to a different area and sulks.

But the visual complements with this great shift in Champ’s life are the better
foundation for the audience.

Instead of his crisp white uniform, Champ must don a dark suit complete with a matching hat. The sleeves and pant-legs are too short. The uniform is not fitting, much like the job.

As we watch him jump back and forth opening and closing the gate for a surge of honking cars, the close-ups of his sweating head and the continuous effort he makes to keep cool enhance the plot much better than any dialogue could have attempted.
He had recently used the pool as an outlet, the river as an endless means of solitude. When his life is shaken by a job shift, he shakes his home life as well, forfeiting his son over to the war effort.

The film’s visual style of framing is also vivid. Champ, an accomplished yet quiet man, is often framed alone, isolated amongst his family and his peers. He is isolated in his thoughts by not talking and therefore secretive about his own fears.
Youssouf Djaoro portrays this resentful, shy man with poise; his acting is not stressed and his reactions are believable. He has captured the essence of silence through his character, and uses his stance to better express Champ’s personality without words. In this, Djaoro creates reason between the silence and the narrative.
The lack of dialogue between the Champ and Abdel makes an even greater point about their relationship – they have nothing to say.

Beyond the scope of the men are the wife and the girlfriend, both of which do little to advance the plot. They are mainly used to portray the greater indifference between the generations. Abdel’s girlfriend is equally ambitious as Abdel, whereas Champ’s wife is yearning for validation on her cooking from her silent husband.
One scene in particular that helped explain the father/son dynamic in this film was when Abdel says to his father, “You are like an old lion.” Once this connection was told, I could see Champ as a lion – watching his pride (family) with a passive eye and sacrificing his cub. He watches the armies take him away through a dimly lit window, perched upon the bed motionless.

Champ’s lack of emotions toward his son was disheartening to watch, especially when it takes him as long as it does to seek any kind of justice for him. The way “A Screaming Man” is told, in that his silence is as deafening as screaming, is what sets it apart. If anything, even less dialogue could have made it even more visually stronger. This film succeeds in its use of silence, reminding the audience that the connections shown on screen between people can stretch beyond a sea of words.