Osama
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Movie Reviews of Osama
Movie Review: absorbing
Summary: 5 Stars
Like many others, I suppose, I came into this movie thinking it was something else entirely.
Supposedly the first film to have come out of post-Tablian Afghanistan, this movie follows the adventures of a young girl who gets herself into a lot of hot water (literally, at one point) for cross-dressing!
Her father is dead. Her mother and grandmother, as despised, disgusting females, are not permitted to go outside or get a job, and therefore have no way to feed the family. Brilliant idea: cut off the young girl's hair and send her into the world and cross our fingers that everything'll be okay (provided that Islam even permits crossing of the fingers).
Folks, after about 15 minutes of this movie, I was on the edge of my seat. My copy is constantly being loaned out because it's such a gripping, eye-popping movie. I haven't been able to see it twice because everybody keeps asking to borrow it.
There's something that troubles me, though. I suspect that the filmmakers had some behind-the-scenes American support somehow; I'm just too lazy to look into it. I mean, the film is WAY too slick to have been truly a native product. Doubtlessly someone loaned them the Panavision and helped them with the script.
But there's something deeper I find fishy: the film is remarkably well-tuned to Western (particularly American) sensibilities, so there's nothing in it that you will find untoward. Hence I am skeptical that what I'm seeing truly represents the "native voice" -- so long muted -- of Afghani thinkers and women.
I mean, think about it: there are no bizarre cultural notes, the Taliban stands condemned, the women are seen as helpless victims, Islam is seen as a backwards and stultifying force, and the script hits every note that we expect. It's suspiciously palatable, as if someone was coaching the filmmakers at every turn as to what the rest of the world would find savory and comprehensible, and to delete the rest.
I don't know. Judge for yourself.
Movie Review: Effects of Islamic law
Summary: 5 Stars
When I saw this movie a few years ago, it completely bowled me over. Siddiq Barmak, at the age of 41, created a masterful Afghan film--the first to follow the Taliban's defeat--about Osama. In reality this "boy" is a 12-year-old girl (Marina Golbahari), forced after the Taliban conquers Kabul to disguise herself to get a job.
Her mother is a hospital physician, widowed in the civil war. But the Taliban shut down her hospital and ban women from working outside their homes--or even walking alone, unaccompanied by a husband, father or brother. Her brother has also gone off to war, and she lives alone with her mother and grandmother.
At first, the girl's mother gets by, visiting patients with escorts from male neighbors. Then that becomes too dangerous. Disguising herself gives the girl, her mother and grandmother their only chance to survive.
Unfortunately, the Taliban before long rounds up all young boys in Kabul to train them for jihad. They are forcibly transferred from their homes and jobs to a madrassa, where they're drilled to memorize the Koran--and indoctrinated into a radical hate ideology.
In this way, "Osama" finds herself in deep trouble. Surrounded by boys, day and night, she finds it increasingly difficult to keep her secret. She has one friend, Espandi, a boy who recognizes her from their prewar days, and protects her as best he can. Otherwise, she is completely alone, in a sea of hatred.
The film is heartbreaking, not least for the forcible imprisonment of masses of women--covered from head to toe, their faces completely invisible behind net masks required by the Taliban--and banned from working or even so much as walking outside alone.
Those who want to promote Western dialog with radical Islamic groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, and their terrorist offspring, should see this film. It's an unflinching portrait of the effects of the fully enforced Islamic law that radical Muslims seek to impose--worldwide.
--Alyssa A. Lappen
Movie Review: Putting a human face on Taliban rule in Afghanistan
Summary: 5 Stars
OSAMA is a stark and grim film that highlights the oppressive regime of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Based on a true story, this film follows the life of a 12-year-old Afghan girl and her mother. After the Taliban shut down the hospital that the mother works at she is desperate to find work but her efforts are bleak because she cannot go out in public without being escorted by a male. With no men in her family and no one else to help her the girl is transformed into a boy to help support the family. Aside from escorting her mother through the streets she finds work in a small foods shop. Each time she ventures outside she fears her life because if she is caught the Taliban will do serious harm to her. In addition, she fails to fully personify a boy since she speaks with a high voice, wears feminine slippers, and doesn't know the proper prayer rituals. But soon enough she is forced to join a Taliban school. During sessions of religious and military training her secret is close to being revealed. The only other boy who knows the truth names her Osama in an effort to try to ward off suspicions from the other boys. After her disguise is revealed and the Taliban has arrested her she is sure to suffer an unspeakable sentence for imitating a boy. Her future is bleak and desperate. There is no happy ending in this film, and the audience is left with a sad feeling of despair and shock. Surely we've all heard the atrocities committed by the Taliban since 9/11/01, but OSAMA enables the viewer to get a powerful glimpse of the horrendous events in Afghanistan under the Taliban. This is the first film to come out of this impoverished country since the end of the Taliban regime, but I hope it's not the last. There are a multitude of stories of Taliban victims that deserve to be heard. These people should not suffer alone. Putting a human face on this tragedy often results in the outside world understanding the horrors that happened. OSAMA is an excellent film that succeeds on many levels, and is highly recommended.Movie Review: A beautiful people under a shocking regime
Summary: 5 Stars
Even though the brutal nature of Taliban rule in Afghanistan has been well publicized, it was still horribly shocking to see the cruel and bizarre punishments inflicted on citizens for conduct which we would not even characterize as offensive, much less criminal. The heartlessness of these sentences is resonant of the beheadings occurring in Iraq, and yet when seen in this film, they at least have some cultural context. One is forced to ask oneself why the public stoning of a female journalist seems so much more violent than other types of execution. Perhaps it is because the victim realizes that she is at the mercy of a willing and vengeful public who enthusiastically inflict the fatal wounds. Perhaps it is simply the primal image of humans hurling stones at a helpless woman buried up to her neck. But, while I would never apologize for these acts, I am tempted to wonder whether we, in the West, are perhaps guilty of sanitizing killings and executions so that they ultimately becomes more palatable. Violence aside, what moved me most about this film was the loving attention to the beauty of Afghanistan and its people. The filmmaker (if I understood his interview in the special features correctly) used non-actors to depict this story of a young girl approaching puberty, with superb results. (I am reminded of another excellent film, called "Rabbit Proof Fence," about the oppression of Australian Aboriginal people by the English, which also uses non-actor children.) The camera makes the most of the protagonist's exquisite androgynous face and expressive eyes. The film's tendency to be slow-paced, which left me a bit distracted at the beginning, is actually a strength, as small details like a puppy in the street or a dry, dusty roadway become a real-time meditation on the texture of everyday life for a magnificent people who, one can only hope, will someday achieve an open and egalitarian society.Movie Review: Power through subtlety
Summary: 5 Stars
I understand that movies such as Osama do not appeal to everyone's taste. First off, people who lack the attention span to absorb all of the subtle details of the film will not enjoy this movie. Secondly, the people who dislike the Bush administration will not enjoy this movie because the story is overshadowed by the immense expression of American viewpoints in the Afghanistan situation. We have to understand that we cannot watch a movie such as Osama through the perspective of an American - more importantly an American adult. Thus, I feel the director purposely centered the movie's story around the perspective of a 12-year old girl to reflect the innocent thoughts of children and their unhindered views of the environment around them. Moreover, the director effectively, honestly, and powerfully conveys the repression caused by the Taliban in Afghanistan (mainly among women).
Osama's slow moving pace can be justified because human emotion requires a longer time frame to develop than mere plot. The illustration of the complex situations that the 12-year old girl faces throughout the movie are incomplete without a general understanding of how those situations affect her. For example, the director takes great pains to film the actress returning home from her work (disguised as a boy) to show the danger involved as well as showcase her vulnerability and apprehension. All the subtle details about the dog and the mysterious man following her add to the paranoia of the situation.
As I said earlier, Osama is not everyone's cup of tea. Those who do enjoy the movie will find that it is truly an engaging film that has a lot to say about society in Afghanistan. Others may find that its subtlety is tedious and pretentious. However, do not completely discredit this movie. Either way, you will leave the movie having learned something about Afghanistan or at least be impacted in somehow.