"The breadwinner" tells a story that took place in Afghanistan during the Taliban rule. The little girl Palwana lives in a family of five. Her father lost a leg in the war and relied on reading letters and writing letters for others. At the same time, the sellers made a living by selling valuable items. The frail mother and the sister of the waiting boudoir were unable to go out because of their female status. The younger brother was not able to live. With the arrest of his father, this vulnerable family was hit hard again. In Afghanistan at the time, women could not have jobs, could not buy or sell things, and could not expose their bodies. Women were not allowed to go out alone unless they were accompanied by men. Under this unreasonable or even illogical rule, the arrest of the father means the loss of the only labor force for the family.
So, the little girl Palvana stepped up, cut her long hair, put on her late brother’s old clothes, pretended to be a boy to work to make money, fetch water, and buy food at the market to support the shaky At the same time, he is carrying the mission of saving his father.
Before the Taliban came to power, his father used to work as a teacher. He taught Parvana to read, write and tell stories. He also encouraged Parvana to remember stories about the nation and history. After her father was arrested and the little girl embarked on the road to support the family, she began to tell a fable to others.
A long, long time ago, there was a small village at the foot of the Hindu Kush Mountain. The Elephant King snatched the seeds used by the villagers for sowing. A young boy Suleiman stood up to regain the seeds for the villagers. Despite being ridiculed by the villagers, he still embarked on the road to find the elephant king. An old woman told him that it takes three things to defeat the King. Then, the boy Suleiman got a mirror and a fishing net in turn. In the mirror, he saw the monster following him, an old and thin horse. He came to the Hindu Kush Mountain where the elephant king was and subdued the elephant king's minions with mirrors and fishing nets. Finally, he met the king and told the story, which calmed the king and returned the seeds to the villagers.
Mirrors are used to recognize weaknesses
The boy Suleiman shone behind him with a mirror and saw that the monster following him turned out to be an old and thin horse. He was at peace with Lao Ma, who saved his life and earned him a fishing net. But in the end, when he needed to go up the mountain to find the Elephant King, he settled the old horse at the foot of the mountain and left alone. That old horse represents the weakness of the self. It can save a life at a critical moment, and at the same time it keeps dragging down the pace of self-improvement. We see ourselves, the nation, and the country through the mirror, see our own cowardice, see the weakness of the nation, and see the country's faults. Behind everyone is the flabby and bravado of this declining nation trying to conceal its timidity. All our anger and aggressiveness stem from our own weakness, just like the man holding a gun and trying to shoot Parvana, was finally frightened by the sound of his gun, he hesitated to confirm the situation in the cave, and then it was too late Thinking about it, he was sent to the truck to the battlefield. In the face of a huge age, we are all timid and helpless.
Fishing nets are used to restrain relationships
The boy Suleiman covered the elephant king's minions with a fishing net and subdued them. The fishing net represents a tool used to create and bind relationships. It can be family, affection, friendship, national unity, and trust between people. In the movie, Parvana met two friends who helped her, Deliva, a girl who also pretended to be a man, and Razak, a man who had lost his wife. Deliva helped her work together to support the family, while Razak helped her save her father.
Stories are used to inspire empathy
When facing the king, Suleiman told his story, "My name is Suleiman, my mother is a writer, my father is a teacher, and my sisters are always arguing. One day I was in the street. I found a toy and picked it up, and it exploded. I don't remember what happened later, because this is the ending." The story destroyed the armor on the elephant king, and it returned the seed to Suleiman. Suleiman is the elder brother of Palvana who died, and this story is the story of the death of her elder brother.
Outside of the story, Palvana is facing the critical moment of saving her father. She is standing outside the wall, and the Razak who can help her is standing in the wall. Outside the wall, Palwana yelled to the little boy Sulaiman in her heart, "Tell your story." In the wall, the kind man Razak said to the jailer holding the gun, "Can you open one eye and close one eye, it's so messy outside, how about letting such a man go."
At the same time, Palwana's mother is facing a man trying to take her daughter and son away. The man is strong and vicious, holding a knife in her hand.
At that moment, the elephant with tusks was the jailer holding the gun and the man with the knife.
The mother held the blade with her hand, and the blood ran down. Razak blocked a shot for Palwana's father and injured his shoulder. They don't have weapons in their hands, but they use their blood to frighten away the enemy.
My last weapon is to show weakness and exchange my miserable experience for your sympathy. If the last humanity remains in your heart, you will let me go. And a trace of your hesitation may be the last hope of the world. Such a theme is undoubtedly pessimistic. Just like those women living in Afghanistan under the rule of the Taliban, they are weak and weak, have no weapons and no right to speak. They are so desperate that they desperately put hope on each other.
The English name of the movie is "The Breadwinner", the person who won the bread, meaning the little girl Parvana. And what the boy Suleiman in the fable needs to win is the seed. In this way, movies and fables gradually developed, and the stories mirrored each other in reality and metaphor. The boy in the fable told the story to the elephant with fangs, and the girl in the movie told the story to the audience in front of the screen.
In the movie, the girl saves the father, and the mother saves the son and daughter. But the relatives have not yet met, the war is about to ignite, and the pain does not end there. Outside of the movie, the Taliban regime evacuated the Afghan capital after the US’s “911” attack in 2001. The suffering in this country has not ended. The conflicts between the Afghan government and the Taliban regime continue to persist in many areas of Afghanistan. Vicious incidents such as armed conflicts and terrorist attacks occurred on the channel, and countless civilians lost their lives.
"From January to July 2017, various violent incidents in Afghanistan have caused nearly 3,000 deaths."
"In the first six months of 2018, the US military and its allies dropped 2,911 bombs of various kinds in Afghanistan, which is almost twice the number of bombs dropped in Afghanistan in the same period last year."
"In the first three quarters of 2018, various improvised explosive device attacks in Afghanistan caused a total of 3634 civilian casualties, a record high."
"On December 24, 2018, a terrorist attack occurred in the capital city of Kabul, killing at least 32 people and injuring more than 20 people."
"Since the outbreak of the war in Afghanistan 17 years ago, more than 30,000 innocent Afghan civilians have been killed in the war."
After the First World War, anti-war thoughts and various movements calling for peace rose. As the advancement of science and technology during World War I made war no longer unreachable, through photos and images, we can more truly come into contact with blood, pain, and death. The cruel images of these wars pierced the bubble of narrow democracy and battle heroes, and made the conscience of those militants who were originally afraid of chaos in the world faintly painful. People began to look for a more peaceful way to resolve disputes.
So we must remember the story, remember the history, we can let go of the hatred, but not forget the past. Because human beings are such a forgetful species, history can repeat itself. At different moments, we may be a weak girl or the man holding a weapon. So we have to tell stories, tell the history of our mistakes and the sufferings we have experienced, we are not cruel, we just use this to awaken our conscience.
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