Before commenting on this work, let's take a look at Mawson's legendary life. What kind of life experience led him to create this work that focuses on war, poverty, and suffering? In 1972, the young and energetic Mawson joined the Islamic underground militia of Iran to fight against the king's monarchy and began to be involved in the vortex of political power and conspiracy. The 17-year-old Musson was sentenced for shooting and killing a policeman. After the prison, he began to stay away from politics and devoted himself to artistic creation, choosing to express his feelings for this vicissitudes of life in a different way from direct confrontation.
Mawson’s emotions are warm, but his lens is extremely calm when facing the reality of Iranian society and the turbulent situation in West Asia. Calm, he has the eyes of a political and organic intellectual, and he has never diverted his attention from this suffering nation or this connected bloodline. His movie world is full of sadness and grief, showing an existence that seems to be isolated from modern society, but it can let you watching the movie understand the pain there, cherish the stability of your living environment, and even make you want to help there. Human thoughts.
The documentary-style film "Kandahar" shot in 2001 sets the background of the era in the civil war in Afghanistan. In the film, the war changed the destiny of many people. The heroine Nafas fled to Canada alone because of the civil war. The little boy Huck lost his father because of the war. He also had to receive a terrorist education because of the war. Unknown people lost their limbs because of the war. Also due to wars and social turmoil, people are poor, hungry, helpless... those desperate to survive by snatching and deceiving.
The editing of the film is quite interesting. The opening and closing parts of the film are the same. Nafas opened the cloth cover to the sunset and accepted inspection and questioning. This part is used at the beginning to explain the protagonist's identity, Nafas, Afghan, and the next scene is her recording on the plane, telling the origin and purpose of this trip. There is no transition here, which is easy to make the audience suspense. What causes the heroine’s identity and life to change? The shot from far to near, slowly approaching this mysterious land, all this is no stranger to Nafas, the strange thing is that she did not expect that a few years after she left, this land would have so many residual limbs People with missing legs. When a pair of prosthetic limbs slowly dropped from high in the screen, the camera turned to the ground with a handicapped person who was on crutches but moved quickly. At this moment, the pain caused by the war has been slightly felt.
The film's presentation of the suffering of the people at the bottom is direct, unreserved, and true, so that some people say that this film is like a documentary. And this trick lies in Mawson's daring to use extras, and can grasp their performance. But more importantly, they are performing their daily life, which does not have any hypocritical existence. The film uses a lot of handheld shooting, and the screen is slightly jittery, but it can bring a real sense of observation. From the perspective of Narfas, we examine her once familiar homeland and feel the fear, hunger, deceit, and cunning of the people at the bottom.
The female images of Buja restrained in the film have common characteristics, such as obeying their husbands, bearing hardships and standing hard work, strictly observing the rules, and at the same time loving beauty. Except for Nafas, it seems that there is no second local woman in the film who has unveiled her Buga. You can't feel the beauty of Afghan women at all. But they also love beauty, like when they are on the way to rest, they paint their nails, wear colorful bracelets, and wear a bougainvillea in the car. They also have to paint their mouths... In the film, when Huck brought Nafas to the well When we were on the side, we saw a group of women wearing Buga lowering their heads and rubbing their clothes. They didn't say anything. They all looked the same. They seemed to be bound by some powerful force and had to do something. At this time, women in the Western world can dress freely, talk freely, and entertain freely... What kind of crimes do Afghan women suffer and have to endure such imprisoned treatment? Is it Islamic teachings? Is it a tradition of Islamic culture? Is it a mandatory move by the Taliban? The film does not give an answer, but this crime is what made Sister Nafas want to commit suicide and escape.
However, the author believes that the origin of "sin" is the male desire that cannot be restrained under the patriarchal discourse. Afghanistan can be polygamous, the husband does not do the work at home, the women take care of all the household affairs, the husband can punch and kick his wife without serious consequences... Civilized people who understand the situation in Afghanistan will sympathize and pity this hard life Woman. In the film, the man who promised to escort Nafas accused her of uncovering Buga at will, “Buja is not an ornament, it is a symbol of my honor.” For him, Buga is a symbol of his wife’s chastity and his honor. symbol of. The scene that moved me was also a pair of girls’ eyes. When they heard that they would not be able to come to class in the future, they had to stay at home honestly. Their eyes were helpless, sad, and overwhelmed. They knew too much. So small that I don't know how to fight against fate. The man who read the notice added, “But you can’t give up hope. If the wall is too high, the sky will be higher. Close your eyes and imagine that you are an ant. If you pretend to be an ant, you can close it. Eyes, the house becomes bigger.” However, this spiritual victory method has no effect. Women still cannot receive more education, women are still restricted in travel, and women still do not have equality, freedom and rights.
The director seems to be deliberately arresting a kind of person-speculators, this is a kind of "robbery" people taking advantage of the chaos. This kind of person is not divided into adults or minors. The men teaching in the school instill all kinds of terrorist ideas such as killing, but the children have no choice. Because in a difficult environment, the school has free food. Through this, the school has cultivated a group of students who are combative, cruel, and unsympathetic. Huck, the little boy who was expelled from school, also became a speculator in a difficult environment. When Narfas was chatting with him, he asked for more money to tell the situation. He did not fear or respect the dead, took the ring from the bones, and wanted to sell it to Nafas for more income. He is another symbol of Afghanistan's future, but it has nothing to do with justice and kindness. Some are speculation and try their best to survive. The adult man with a severed hand at the end of the film is also a speculator, defrauding a pair of prostheses for the reason of the severed hand, and intends to change hands in exchange for money. He was willing to take Nafas to Kandahar, not because he was eager to save people, but because money moved him. There are a large group of such people in Afghanistan. What kind of future will the country have? It is indeed a question worth considering.
At the end, Linafas uncovered Buga, saw the setting sun slowly, and confessed his name and fabricated identity to the inspectors and it was over. The director did not tell the audience whether Nafas succeeded in saving his sister in the end, leaving an open ending. But it is conceivable that her sister, like the other women in the film, endured pain and lived a life of isolation. Even if Nafas persuaded her sister to commit suicide, it would be difficult to change her destiny. The younger sister stays at home and still leads a life similar to that before the suicide, and her husband will stare at her.
Only by escaping from this homeland can there be new hope.
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