"The Eclipse of Destiny"

KANDAHAR

Original title: سفر به قندهار (Safar e Ghandehar)
Year: 2001
Country: Iran
Language: English, Persian, Pashto, Polish
Number: 982
Director: Mohsen Makhmalbaf  
Starring: Nelofer Pazira, Hassan Tantai, Sedou Teymouri, Hoyatala Hakimi
Cannes: Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, Golden Palm
IMDb: 6.7
RT score: 88%


Kandahar is an extraordinary story about Nafas, an afghan woman who fled to Canada during the soviet invasion. She have gotten a letter from her sister who was left behind that she is gonna commit suicide when the next full moon occurs. So Nafas decides to go back to her native country to pick her up before it's to late. But the Taliban ruled Afghanistan isn't a safe place, specially for women who have to wear burqas all the time. A place without law, poverty and diseases.

Kandahar is a good film which set the great mood, with all the amazing cinematography, colors and music. It also feels authentic with all the local resident which I highly suspect isn't actors at all but are who they are. It's also the case with the character Tabib Sahid a doctor who helps our heroine. He is an African-American who converted to Islam and came to Afghanistan to fight against the Russian. After the war he decided to help out by being a doctor and help the needy people. Sahid is played by Hassan Tantai who is in fact an Islamic terrorist. That kind of give us a little chill, because he's performance in the film, where he play are more helpful and understanding character. But isn't it like that if a person is to perfect he got to be a serial killer.

But enough about him. Kandahar is a great film, a journey into a different world. This film was released before 9/11, we see an Afghanistan that is split and out of touch with the world around it, and I think that this movie with make it easier to understand this society.


Grade: A-


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