The Boy Who Plays on the Buddhas of Bamiyan
In Afghanistan in March 2001, the Taliban destroyed 1600 years of history and caused international outrage when they dynamited the Buddhas of Bamiyan. Even more tragic has been the human cost of 20 years of war "in which two million have been killed and millions more turned into refugees".
This film is an account of a year in the life of one of them, an eight-year-old boy named Mir who lives with his family in the caves alongside the rubble of the Buddhas. A documentart where everybody speaks for themselves (although I suspect with much pro-west filtering and prodding). The landscape is beautiful and the camerawork serene and nice. The movie captures the poverty and the conditions quite well. Not quite matter-of-fact but not overly pathetic. The poverty, the Russians, the wreckage, the Taliban - Mir and the people there have seen it all. Yet, Mir maintains his cheery disposition. Although one can clearly see moments of angst, confusion and desperation in him. The human element was very well shot.
It did however, have a strong sense of propaganda. A "west saves the unfortunate" quality to it. What I did not like was that if it was meant to capture the plight of the folks, then the filmmakers should not have infused it with such a strong element of pro-west jingoism. 'Things get better after the allies came by!' Not a message to be mixed with 'The Taliban destroyed their poor lives.' We have the mainstream media for that.
Rating: 3.5/5
This film is an account of a year in the life of one of them, an eight-year-old boy named Mir who lives with his family in the caves alongside the rubble of the Buddhas. A documentart where everybody speaks for themselves (although I suspect with much pro-west filtering and prodding). The landscape is beautiful and the camerawork serene and nice. The movie captures the poverty and the conditions quite well. Not quite matter-of-fact but not overly pathetic. The poverty, the Russians, the wreckage, the Taliban - Mir and the people there have seen it all. Yet, Mir maintains his cheery disposition. Although one can clearly see moments of angst, confusion and desperation in him. The human element was very well shot.
It did however, have a strong sense of propaganda. A "west saves the unfortunate" quality to it. What I did not like was that if it was meant to capture the plight of the folks, then the filmmakers should not have infused it with such a strong element of pro-west jingoism. 'Things get better after the allies came by!' Not a message to be mixed with 'The Taliban destroyed their poor lives.' We have the mainstream media for that.
Rating: 3.5/5
posted by Harish at 08:09
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