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Osama 2003 |
Review by Jonathan Cornwell |
Directed by Siddiq Barmak
PG-13, 82 min. (mature thematic elements) |
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Starring: Marina Golbahari, Arif Herati, Zubaida Sahar, Khwaja Nader, Hamida Refah
Producers: Siddiq Barmak, Julia Fraser, Julie LeBrocquy, Makoto Ueda
Screenplay: Siddiq Barmak
Cinematography: Ebrahim Ghafori
Distributor: United Artists
Released: 1.30.04 (Limited)
(In Dari with subtitles) |
Rating:
 (out of ) |
Osama is searing reminder of the evils of the Taliban that ruled Afghanistan pre-9/11. The brutality and
abuse of the country's women during the totalitarian regime defies belief, especially considering the fact that these atrocities took
place in the 21st century and not the Dark Ages. Director Siddiq Barmak reveals the sadist-like activities of life under
the harshest of conditions; he shoots the film much like a documentary would be, with objective, distant observation instead
of relying on ripe melodrama. The courageousness of a film like Osama would seem impossible just a few years ago,
yet its impact is proof that cinema touches all parts of the world.
The story follows Osama (Marina Golbahari), the pre-adolescent daughter of a woman doctor (Zubaida Sahar) who was
forced to stop working when the Taliban took over. As a last resort, in order to survive, Osama is forced to dress and
act like a boy in order to bring home food each night. But soon she finds herself amidst a military training center for
boys who are brainwashed in the Taliban's propaganda, frightened that her true identity will be revealed. When she is finally
discovered, the punishment is probably worse than death (the usual penalty for such a crime).
Barmak brings a sense of the terror that the Afghani people must have endured during the Taliban's reign. He uses several
techniques to provide the you-are-there elements of the storyline. In the film's opening scene we see a large group of
women, covered but protesting their trampled rights as human beings, instead of cattle to be branded and owned.
Soon the Taliban comes in force, flashing guns and using a powerhose to wash their uprising away; we see the event through
the video camera of a Westerner capturing the proceedings, and later he is executed as a result of his disrespect for the
Taliban's laws. He got off easy; another woman is stoned to death for simply espousing the merits of free speech. The
rulers of the regime are portrayed as nothing more than gangsters akin to Hitler's SS, handing out sentences for crimes
that would be considered normal activities in any free society today.
The performances from the local cast is stunning considering their inexperience in film. Golbahari has given one of the
most moving, authentic, and heartfelt performances in recent memory. Her natural talent for acting is captured brilliantly
by Barmak's camera; it's as if he keeps his distance in order to capitalize on the memories of her existence under the Taliban.
Her raw, unaffected effort is haunting for a film that needs no sensationalism to prove its point beyond any doubts.
Barmak's chosen locales and desert-riddled poverty of the region only enhance the sheer hopelessness of anyone caught in
the web of such injustice. The harrowing experience of enduring Osama reminds everyone of the precious nature of
freedom, and the importance of ensuring its dominance throughout a world that in some corners still seeks to subjugate and
conquer rather than live in harmonious companionship. Osama is one of the more revealing foreign films in the last
decade.
© 2004 Jonathan Cornwell
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 | Masterpiece - Film perfection |
 | Excellent - A Must See |
| Good - Highly Recommended |
| Fair - Worth seeing |
| Average - Viewable, but not recommended |
| Below average - View at own risk |
| Poor - Avoid at all costs |
| Very poor - An embarassment to the film industry |
| Zero | Awful - One of the worst films ever made |
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