Just perfect...

Highly Overrated But Still Good

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

An extraordinary film that deserves much wider viewing. Watch it without knowing anything about what happens. It took my breath away, and it reminded me that when I pour a glass of tap water and drink it I am amazingly lucky. I found it funny that one person has slated it on the grounds that it was made by a 'middle-aged woman' (horror!) and contains poor 'French-speaking Africans'. Hilarious! As a middle-aged woman whose father was from Africa, yep, there are over ninety million French-speaking Africans, and some of them are poor. Anyway. This phenomenally talented film director and her wonderful creative team deserve every single one of these stars.

Well, spoilers ahead! A few people pointed out elements that did not really look very likely to happen: like the fact that everyone seems to be speaking excellent French, or that the characters obviously wear fresh, ironed underwear at all times.I would only like to stress one thing in this review: none of this really matters. Of course it would be great to see this film with all the mixture of dialects the region can offer, etc. Which does not change the fact that Sound of Sands is not 'Africa for tourists' kind of film, but a touching and poignant story about an odyssey through a desert. Its main point is not the ultimate realism, but portrayal of the way family bonds are shaped, of feeling and emotions that are suppressed during the struggle to survive.Sound of Sands includes two/three scenes that I think are one of the most beautiful or poignant ever made: the last goodbye between the husband and his wife was heartbreaking. He knows they will never see each other again, she is on the verge of dying, unconscious, most likely will never open her eyes again. The other one is when the family gives water to the dying man on the desert, but is also forced to leave him out there. The man follows them like a ghost for a few meter and collapses without a sound.Sound of Sands is for me not a film about Africa only, but about human feeling, choices a lot of us do not have to take thanks to a good economical situation in out countries. The film might have been polished to suit the taste of Western audience, but it does not matter, unless you really want to make a big deal out of it.

This heartbreaking film brings home the series of tragedies that can easily strike thousands if not millions of simple families during a time of drought and strife in East Africa. After viewing this film, I have a totally altered perspective when I hear news of any kind of conflict or movement of people in that region. This is a European production and the family whose tragedies we endure speak French. The acting was good and my English subtitles were coherent and legible, as a non-French speaker the language being spoken was irrelevant to me. I realize this might be a different case for others. The isolation and simplicity of this family's world and life was exceptionally well presented by writer/director Marion Hansel. Life and death choices made in complete ignorance, the randomness of the other people they came in contact with, and the randomness of the life altering results. It will leave you shaken by the cruelty that we as people are capable of. It is visually appealing as well, the stark desert landscapes are utilized well. When I saw this film at the Seattle International Film Festival a few years back, it was easily my favorite out of over 100 films that I had viewed at that year's festival.

I've seen this movie at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. It was very very touching. A story about an African family that must undertake a journey to find water. The dangers underway are not in favor of these people. I don't want to say more, you have to see the rest for yourself!!I makes you realize that we can make a fuss about things that do not matter (too much). I mean in our, rich, world, the problems and challenges we encounter can be very real and frustrating. And although these problems can be very real, we also tend to make problems out of nothing: The very specific kind of dessert wasn't available in the supermarket, etc. This movie's a movie that you wouldn't watch with a bag of popcorn, but still I'd like to recommend it to get a more balanced view of the world we all live in.