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robinturnerI was looking forward to a nice beer-drinking, film-viewing evening, since Nalan decided to go to our local shopping centre and agreed to bring me back some beer and change the film we had from the DVD/VCD place (I had to clean the kitchen and bathroom floors in exchange, which struck me as a fair bargain).
It thus came as a disappointment that she brought back Kandahar on the recommendation of the guy in the shop (which is odd, considering that when I was there the other day, he recommended Pirates of the Carribean - do I really look that much less intellectual than my wife?).
I saw this film on TV when I was in England a couple of weeks ago, and it drove me nuts. On the positive side, it's about a subject which for some reason I feel a strong interest in (the condition of women in Afghanistan). On the negative side, it has about as much plot as the weather forecast or a Jean-Luc Godard film. This means Nalan is in the next room watching the film with interest (since I recommended it as a documentary, and she doesn't know much about Afghanistan) and I'm here typing this.
Oh well, at least she got the beer.
It is hard to say anything negative about such a well-intentioned and well-produced film, but I found Kandahar an immense disappointment.
The film deals seriously with a serious subject, and one which is still relevant (since life for women since the fall of the Taliban hasn't improved as much as we'd like to think). It is also beautifully shot, and has a captivating soundtrack made up from Afghan music. There are also some interesting characters, such as the American activist who went to Afghanistan to fight the Russians and stayed to use his para-medical skills to help the Afghan people.
The one ingredient missing is a plot. There is a plot-device: the heroine is going to Kandahar to find her sister (who has written to say that she will commit suicide). However, this is merely a vehicle for a travelogue. As a documentary showing life under the Taliban, Kandahar is excellent, but as a film, it is weak.
It thus came as a disappointment that she brought back Kandahar on the recommendation of the guy in the shop (which is odd, considering that when I was there the other day, he recommended Pirates of the Carribean - do I really look that much less intellectual than my wife?).
I saw this film on TV when I was in England a couple of weeks ago, and it drove me nuts. On the positive side, it's about a subject which for some reason I feel a strong interest in (the condition of women in Afghanistan). On the negative side, it has about as much plot as the weather forecast or a Jean-Luc Godard film. This means Nalan is in the next room watching the film with interest (since I recommended it as a documentary, and she doesn't know much about Afghanistan) and I'm here typing this.
Oh well, at least she got the beer.
It is hard to say anything negative about such a well-intentioned and well-produced film, but I found Kandahar an immense disappointment.
The film deals seriously with a serious subject, and one which is still relevant (since life for women since the fall of the Taliban hasn't improved as much as we'd like to think). It is also beautifully shot, and has a captivating soundtrack made up from Afghan music. There are also some interesting characters, such as the American activist who went to Afghanistan to fight the Russians and stayed to use his para-medical skills to help the Afghan people.
The one ingredient missing is a plot. There is a plot-device: the heroine is going to Kandahar to find her sister (who has written to say that she will commit suicide). However, this is merely a vehicle for a travelogue. As a documentary showing life under the Taliban, Kandahar is excellent, but as a film, it is weak.
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no subject
Date: 2004-08-26 02:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-26 10:47 pm (UTC)