Poignant. Review on Osama Movie

poign·ant adj.

keenly distressing to the mind or feelings;

An old womand gently braids her granddaughters hair

while she narrates her a story, only to chop off her

locks at the end.

A man limps through an empty hospital corridor as

the camera lingers on him.

An IV drip's life giving saline on a lock of hair

planted in a pot of dust.

These are a few scenes which remain in the viewers

mind long after the ending credits have rolled away.

'Osama' written and directed by Siddiq Barmak is the story

of a family of three women in Taliban ruled Afghanistan.

Left without any male members to feed the family, they are

forced to chop off the hair of the pre-adolescent Osama, the

heroine of the film, and masquerade her as a boy so that she

can find work and make money for the family.

She is snatched from he work place and sent

to a madarsa to train in the ways of the Taliban.

Of course, it is a matter of time before her real sex is discovered

leading to a gut wrenching end.

Barmak creates a poignant film filled with sadness & despair.

The main character played by the Marina Golbahari (discovered while

she was begging on the streets of Kabul) will be the most moving character

to be seen on the screen for a long time to come.

The material is handled deftly by the director. Check the scene

in the Turkish bath where the mullah demonstrates the rites of ablutions.

This scene goes from the hilarious to the erotic in the blink

of an eye.

The camerawork shows skill and the background score is sparse but suits

this well paced film.

See it if you can spare the 82 minutes.