Osama

So I've been reading like a nutcase lately. Trying to find some new authors worth reading and I'm not having much success. I found one new writer, young English guy, that is really good, only his subject matter is, hm, shall we say, questionable. No profanity in his narrative, which is a definite must/bonus, and his first book had virtually none in the dialogue. I think that there were literally two words in the first book. Then I got his second offering: hmmmm, disappointment reigns supreme. Normally I put them down, which I have done with two authors in the last two weeks, but I did finish it. There was a lot of Jane Austin mentioned in the book, particularly Persuasion, in fact he dedicated the book to her, called her a German Poet. But I digress. This post isn't about my attempt to find good authors, but rather about Osama. And, No, not Bin Laden. This is Osama.

All that other blather was to say that I was looking through the foreign film shelf at the library, I always check it first, and I saw this film. After reading the back I figured that it at least deserved a cursory viewing, and if it was awful, and slow (some times those adjectives can been joined) I could always turn it off, like I did with a Japanese film that I brought home a couple of weeks ago. It wasn't. It captivated me. There were some parts, were it seemed to drag a little, but in the end, it shook me. I know, that sounds so, Yuppie. Mod. Hollywood Blather Speak, but I don't know how else to describe it.

A friend and I were talking on Monday night on our way into town and he said "you know art is good if it disturbs you." Now, I don't agree with that at all, (in order for art to be art, it MUST be pleasing to the senses) but I thought it was ironic that two nights after we had been discussing shows and movies and stuff, I would see something that would leave me thinking about it all of the following day. Even up till now.

Osama is the first movie made in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban and it is about a girl whose father is dead, whose mother is a doctor, or nurse, it isn't made clear, and whose dotting grandmother lovingly tells her the same "beautiful story" every night. Oh, yeah, it takes place while the Taliban is still in power. Because of the restrictions placed upon women by that perverse society, "Osama's" family is starving to death and the only solution that they have is to cut the girls hair off and send her out into that hellish world as a boy. And if she's caught, it means death.

Now, you need to understand: this is not entertainment. Don't pop popcorn. Don't crack open sodas. To that extent the film-maker starts the film out like a documentary, but only briefly. It's a slice of life, a la Taliban style. There is a little language, in subtitles (it's in Arabic) references to the legitimacy of some boys' heritage, and there is one scene in a bath house where young boys are being "instructed" by a mullah. Definitely adult conversation. Conversation only.

The film is a very pointed commentary on the oppressive conduct of the devoutly muslim.

Having seen some documentaries previously and having spent some time on www.thereligionofpeace.com, I don't doubt the accuracy of the films' claims.

If it doesn't rattle your cage, then perhaps you should seriously consider moving to Iran.

Thank God we went to Afghanistan. Thank God we went to Iraq.

And no, the job's not done in either of those countries. It's just starting.

If it piques your interest, I know that the Blockbuster here has it, so I would imagine that the others carry it also.