[Moving picture of popcorn]

Laramie Movie Scope: Safar e Ghandehar
(AKA Kandahar,
or The Sun Behind the Moon)

A strange quasi-documentary about Afghanistan

[Strip of film rule]
by Robert Roten, Film Critic
[Strip of film rule]

January 5, 2002 -- Safar e Ghandehar (Also Known as "Kandahar," or "The Sun Behind the Moon") is an odd combination of fiction and fact, a sort of docudrama. The story isn't real, but the characters are real enough. It is about a woman, Nafas (played by Niloufar Pazira, who was born in India, but raised in Kabul, Afghanistan), who wants to visit her sister in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Here in the United States, a woman wants to visit her sister, no problem. In Afghanistan, this simple task becomes a very dangerous ordeal. The film depicts the harsh rules imposed on women by the Taliban, including a law forbidding women to travel alone. Obviously, this film was made before the recent war which removed the Taliban from power. The film gives the viewer many reasons to believe there is no woman in Afghanistan who has fond memories of Taliban rule.

Nafas, a journalist, is living in Canada, an Afghan refugee. One day she gets a letter from her sister, living in Kandahar. Her sister plans to commit suicide in a few days, around the time of the solar eclipse. Anxious to save her sister's life, Nafas begins her perilous journey to Kandahar. She is forced to hire male companions for her journey, including a young boy, Khak (played by Sadou Teymouri) and a con man, Tabib Sahid (Hassan Tantai). She also gets help from a black American doctor. It is an incredible journey, filled with bizarre twists and turns.

Along the way, we see the terrible aftermath of 20 years of wars and civil wars (before the war which drove the Taliban from power). We also see the devastating toll of thousands of land mines (why is it, again, that the U.S. doesn't want to sign a land mine treaty, other than profit?). There are several scenes involving Red Cross (or Red Crescent) doctors who are dispensing artificial limbs. One man doesn't like the artificial legs designated for his wife because they aren't small and feminine enough.

The documentary aspect of the film works better than the fictional part of the story. Two scenes involving Nafas and Khak are good examples of problems with the fictional storyline. Khak finds a jeweled ring on a skeleton in the sand along the journey. He tries to sell the ring to Nafas, who doesn't want it. Later, he tries to give her the ring. She still doesn't want it because it was taken from the body of a dead person. The two scenes go on way too long, and the second one makes no sense. Khak is a kid who does not know where his next meal is coming from. He is not going to give away a valuable ring. He is going to try to sell it. I was perplexed by these two scenes. Why did they drag on so long? What sense did they make? What, if anything, did they have to do with the rest of the story? Perhaps they make more sense from an Afghani point of view.

Other parts of the film relating to the fictional part of the story seem very mechanical and artificial, as if they were staged by a rank amateur. The film's writer, director, editor and producer, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, who also wrote "The Day I Became A Woman," has plenty of experience making films. He is certainly no amateur. Although the film is very rough from a fictional narrative standpoint, the documentary aspect of the film is quite informative, even though it too, is obviously staged.

Makhmalbaf lives in Iran, but there are some 2.5 million Afghan refugees living in Iran, so he is well aware of their plight. He has also traveled in Afghanistan and some characters in his film are based on real people. In an interview (a link to the film's website, with the complete interview, is given below), Makhmalbaf said, "One day a young Afghan woman, who had taken refuge in Canada, came to see me. She had just received a desperate letter from her friend who wanted to commit suicide because of the harsh conditions in Kandahar. She wanted to go back and help her friend at all cost." So even though the film is partly fiction, it is not far removed from the truth.

The images of the desolate landscape in the film, as well as the colorful clothing worn by the Afghan women, are beautifully captured by cinematographer Ebrahim Ghafori ("The Day I Became A Woman"). The music, by Mohammad Reza Darvishi is striking. The film has won several awards, including the Freedom of Expression Award from National Board of Review, 2001, The Ecumenical Award from the World Council of Churches at Cannes and the public prize from Festival des Cinemas du Sud in France. This film rates a C.

Click here for links to places to buy this movie in video and/or DVD format, the soundtrack, books, even used videos, games and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

[Strip of film rule]
Copyright © 2002 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.
[Strip of film rule]
 
Back to the Laramie Movie Scope index.
 
[Rule made of Seventh Seal sillouettes]

Robert Roten can be reached via e-mail at my last name at lariat dot org. [Mailer button: image of letter and envelope]

(If you e-mail me with a question about this or any other movie or review, please mention the name of the movie you are asking the question about, otherwise I may have no way of knowing which film you are referring to)