The only Cannes competition entry hailing from Africa, Chad-born director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s “Lingui, the Sacred Bonds” tries to use its Central Africa setting to infuse fresh blood into a familiar genre. There’s a lot of anger and sexism on display in this quietly told story. The two women at the center of it are mother Amina (Achouackh Abakar Souleymane) and her 15-year-old daughter Maria (Rihane Khalil Alio). Maria, acting all sullen and withdrawn, turns out to be pregnant. She wants an abortion, but that’s both illegal and against their Islamic religion, but that doesn’t stop Amina from seeking help and finding an underground doctor who demands 1 million francs. Desperation seeps into this story, the doctor ends up getting busted by the cops before the abortion is performed, which leads mother/daughter down another path. “Lingui” plays like a familiar abortion drama, only the setting is different this time around. Like in those dramas, the women involved all live in an environment that sets limits to their freedoms; The filmmaking is rather stale, but it does help in keeping the narrative grounded. [B-]
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