221. A Season In France ( Une saison en France): movie review

A SEASON IN FRANCE (UNE SAISON EN FRANCE)
Cert 12A
101 mins

BBFC advice: Contains infrequent strong language, moderate sex references, brief violence

It occurs to me that French cinema tackles the refugee issue head-on whereas, despite the political noise, movie-makers seem to shy away from the subject in the UK.
A Season In France gives a very personal account of brothers who have escaped from war in the Central African Republic.
One is a former teacher played by Eriq Ebouaney whose character, Abbas, is having to bring up two children alone after his wife was killed as they tried to flee from their home city of Bangui.
His brother (Bibi Tanga) was a university professor back home and both are hoping for asylum to be granted for them to continue to live in Paris.
This is a portrait of people under immense pressure - Abbas has to juggle a job, be a diligent father while having nightmares about his wife.
Slight relief is found in the form of a romantic relationship with a Polish immigrant (Sandrine Bonnaire).

The story is largely told in the third person with the occasional inclusion of narrative from Abbas's young son.
He fills in some of the detail of the family's background and tells how his dad was "cooler" in Bangui.
The long-term effect on children is passed over too readily by those who speak out against allowing refugees to settle.
Mahamat Saleh Haroun is smart about how he makes that point but never lays it on too thickly.
On the downside, the action is sparse during A Season In France.
Refugees tend to have periods of mundanity between the stress of either being kicked out of the home or the country.
With that in mind, Haroun, who emigrated from Chad to France nearly 40 years ago, has got the tempo just about right.

And, because I have a heart, his film made feel desperately sad for those who just have the sheer bad luck to be born in countries where violent upheaval is the norm.

Reasons to watch: A thoughtful portrait of life as refugees
Reasons to avoid: It is slow-moving

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 7/10 

Did you know? According to the UNHCR, the EU countries with the biggest numbers of recognised refugees at the end of 2014 were France (252,264), Germany (216,973), Sweden (142,207) and the United Kingdom (117,161). No European state was among the top ten refugee-hosting countries in the world.

The final word. Mahamat Saleh Haroun: "This issue of migrants is a part of my life. I was a refugee because I escaped from Chad during the civil war. I wanted to make this film to show another point of view, because I am not satisfied with the films I have seen about migrants."

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