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.