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★★★½☆
16 November 2017
A movie review of THE BREADWINNER. |
“When I was young Parvana, I knew what peace felt like,” Nurullah (Ali Badshah)
An animated movie set in Taliban-occupied Afghanistan might not seem like an obvious family outing, but for those tired of inane talking animals this is for you. THE BREADWINNER is not a grind, far from it. It's an adventure story (actually two). The heroine is bold and brave. A role model. Stakes are palpable. The enemy is not an evil dinosaur, or an adversary with exactly the same powers, but human weakness and turpitude. These negative attributes are not graphically shown, but are understood by those engaged with politics. Young people will identity the antagonists by characters enforcing unfair rules. THE BREADWINNER is a morality tale tied to the real world.
An animated movie set in Taliban-occupied Afghanistan might not seem like an obvious family outing, but for those tired of inane talking animals this is for you. THE BREADWINNER is not a grind, far from it. It's an adventure story (actually two). The heroine is bold and brave. A role model. Stakes are palpable. The enemy is not an evil dinosaur, or an adversary with exactly the same powers, but human weakness and turpitude. These negative attributes are not graphically shown, but are understood by those engaged with politics. Young people will identity the antagonists by characters enforcing unfair rules. THE BREADWINNER is a morality tale tied to the real world.
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The film skilfully illustrates a police state. This is of course nothing new in stories for young people, from books such as ‘Lord of the Rings’ to ‘The Tripods’ to ‘The Hunger Games’. Fans of graphic novel ‘Persepolis’, and its cinema adaptation, will especially appreciate this movie.
2001, former educator Nurullah has lost a lower limb in the war against the Russians. No acknowledgment for past patriotism, the Taliban government have stopped him teaching. An uneducated population is one more easily manipulated. (A thought not lost on those living through Brexit and Trump.) To make ends meet Nurullah tries to sell a few personal items in a local market, needing the assistance of 11 year old daughter Parvana (Saara Chaudry). A woman working, even helping a disabled parent, is much to the chagrin of Taliban police. One in particular, Idrees (Noorin Gulamgaus), has ire for his former teacher. Idrees’ demonstration of hypocrisy and mercilessness epitomises authoritarianism. He reeks of pettiness and insecurity.
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Idrees finds a spurious excuse to arrest Nurullah. There is no rule of law, no right to a fair trial. The adventure begins when Parvana realises she must pretend to be a boy to become the title of the film, to support her family. Not only has Parvana to raise money for food, she requires funds to bribe her father out of prison. The lead’s reverse transformation, the opposite of the regressive CINDERELLA, celebrates self-determination and courage regardless of gender.
THE BREADWINNER is an absorbing, political animation, but feels too short. Time is wasted on a story within a story, an unnecessary parallel narrative – it is disjointed and that moral is confusing. The main thread was more than strong enough.
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