The Breadwinner (2017)

Well-Intended & Rich in Animation, 'The Breadwinner' is an honest film, whose victory lies in its disturbing truth. This is an important film on disparity & courage, that deserves a watch.'The Breadwinner' Synopsis: In 2001, Afghanistan is under the control of the Taliban. When her father is captured, a determined young girl disguises herself as a boy in order to provide for her family.Despite its uneven Writing, that goes jumps from being excellent to becoming monotonous, the sole strength of 'The Breadwinner' lies in its honesty, which is unquestionable. Kudos to Director Nora Twomey for churning out a film that shows whats life beyond our borders & how gender roles are still played upon, particularly on women. A special mention for all the vocal-performances by its actors. Their work here is very strong!On the whole, 'The Breadwinner' isn't perfect, but so isn't life, right?

From the same studio that made Song of the Sea, and from executive producer Angelina Jolie, Mark Kermode was giving this great praise, saying he had seen about three times, and it did look and sound interesting, so I went to see it at the cinema. Basically set in 2001, in Kabul, Afghanistan, while it is under the control of the Taliban, eleven-year-old Parvana (Saara Chaudry) helps her father Nurullah (Ali Badshah), who lost one of his legs during The Soviet-Afghan War, with selling goods in the market. Nurullah is unjustly arrested after Idrees (Noorin Gulamgaus), a volatile young member of the Taliban, thinks he insulted him, leaving Parvana's family without an adult male relative, her elder brother Sulayman died years ago. Parvana, her mother Fattema (Laara Sadiq), her elder sister Soraya (Shaista Latif) and her baby brother Zaki (Lily Erlinghauser) are not allowed to go out without a male relative, so they have no means to support the family. After Parvana tries unsuccessfully to procure food going out as a girl, she decides to dress as a boy and pretend to be Nurullah's nephew, "Aatish" (meaning "fire") to support the family. During the time she is doing this, she often entertains her baby brother telling the story of a young man on a journey to defeat the evil Elephant King and help his village. The ploy works, Parvana is able to get food and money, and she befriend Shauzia (Soma Chhaya), another young girl dressing as a boy to support her family. On Shauza's advice, Parvana goes to the prison where her father is being held to try to bribe the guards into letting her see him, but this plan fails, Parvana is driven away. She starts saving money for a larger bribe, working hard labour jobs with Shauzia, who is saving up to get away from her abusive father, meanwhile Fattema is forced to write to a relative in Mazar, offering Soraya up for marriage in exchange for shelter and protection. Parvana also meets Razaq, who was with Idrees when her father was arrested; he is illiterate and pays her to read a letter, it says that his wife Hawla was killed, he befriends her and continues to meet with her so that she can teach him to read and write. Parvana and Shauzia take a job, Idrees is there and recognizes Parvana, he tries her as they both flee, they manage to hide and Idrees is abruptly called away to fight in the War of Afghanistan. Parvana returns home, Fattema pleads with her to stop the dangerous ploy, her relatives have accepted Soraya and will be collecting them the day after next, she agrees on the condition that she visits her father in prison to tell him where they will be living. Parvana says a tearful goodbye to Shauzia, promising they will meet again in 20 years from then, but the cousin expected arrives early and forces them to leave without Parvana, as the war is starting, and roads will be blocked. Fattema eventually stands up to her cousin, refusing to let him take them further, and he leaves the family stranded in the road. Parvana arrives at the prison, where she finds Razaq, after she reveals she is Nurullah's daughter, he tells her he will retrieve her father, as the prison clearing out of the weaker prisoners who cannot fight, some being executed. A terrified Parvana gathers her courage to stay by finishing the story of the boy, who she turns into Sulayman, who is revealed to have died when a land mine exploded. Razaq is attacked while rescuing the weak Nurullah, he is wounded, but the father and daughter are reunited, Parvana takes Nurullah away, where they will soon reunite with the rest of the family. This is an accomplished example that the animation genre can be so much more than entertainment, the story is not one I could see being done in live action, the colourful hand drawn animation is superb, the young lead character is the emotional draw, and the film is not afraid to tackle hard subjects as gently as possible, a compelling and inspired animated drama. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film, and it was nominated the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Animated. Very good!

This is not the first time a girl passes as a boy, even in this story in fact! The animation is beautiful, well done and colorful. It is depicting sexism at the governing level and obviously not supported by all. A bit anti-taliban but not too antiwar, it would be interesting to see a similar story happening during the english occupation.

As you may expect from the people behind Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea, this is an undeniably gorgeous animated film that stands out in the CGI-soaked modern landscape. It's also a quite important story worth telling...unfortunately, it's just never that fully engaging. While the emotions and drama are strong, the beats are fairly basic. Breadwinner is a passable character study that just never comes close to the heights of its other fantasy-realism brethren.