Unveiling life under the Taliban
Golden Globe best foreign language film Osama is the first Afghan film made since the fall of the Taliban.
Its importance lies not only in its political significance, but also in what we learn from this moving tale about how women survived under the Taliban.
Under the regime, women in Afghanistan were prohibited from getting work or receiving education, and they had to wear veils to cover their faces, hands and feet. Because many men had died in wars or were forced into military service, a lot of women were starving.
To cope with the poverty, a 12-year-old girl disguises herself as a boy in order to do odd jobs to support her mother and grandmother. Her friend Espandi calls her Osama, in the hope that no one realises she is really a girl. But she can't escape being discovered.
Siddiq Barmak's remarkable debut feature is a protest against the Taliban's injustice to women and, in fact, to mankind. The beautifully shot opening scene of a group of women in blue veils demonstrating on the street, demanding the opportunity to get jobs, sets the film's tone.
The tragic story is engaging and nicely put together. Your emotions grow as the story unfolds, and eventually you care a lot for the characters.
The incredible 15-year-old Marina Golbahari, who plays the young girl, was an illiterate street begger before she won this role. In a way, Osama is not just a film about the dark times of Afghanistan. It also saved one girl's life.
Barmak, also the writer of the film, captures the moments and conversations that best represent the suffering of women under the Taliban, such as the jailing of women and the wedding to a man who's been sent to the frontline.
Osama is a film that will linger in your memory. And we should be grateful that we live in a city that's free from war and totalitarian rule.
Osama opens on April 22.
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