Film: The Breadwinner

On Sunday, Up in the Cheap Seats watched Behind the Beautiful Forevers, a National Theatre production set in the slums of Mumbai - in conjunction with a group from Toronto, it seems! Too late for me, though. Still, I've rented it to watch on my own - I have three days from when I click the link in the mail.

Which I haven't got around to doing yet! Well, if the tv is good.. Anyway, today being St. Patrick's Day, I took the day off - and the plan was to check out some more of the excellent website they've set up to entertain us. And wouldn't you know it, the tv threw up an alternative. I was meant to see The Breadwinner - live, in a cinema - years ago, but it seems there were Tube issues, and I never made it. So, when I saw it advertised today..

Turned out to be dubbed into Irish (for the day that's in it). Well now, my Irish isn't perfect, but I got the jist - the dialogue isn't that complicated, as the story is told from a child's perspective, and you do get into the swing of it after a bit. (Anyway, I checked the plot on Wikipedia, just to make sure I didn't miss anything.)

This is the story of a little girl, living in Afghanistan under the Taliban, whose father is imprisoned - for possession of a non-religious book; it's easy enough to get imprisoned in this society. Bad enough in itself, this leads to an additional problem - he was the only male in the family (apart from the baby), and women aren't allowed out without an accompanying, adult male family member. Imagine, huh? Anyway, this leaves them without a source of income, and without the means to buy food - ain't no delivery service, and they aren't allowed to the market. Starving at home, what are they to do? One day, our brave little girl stares at the scissors, and gets the idea to cut her hair.. She had an older brother, who died (we eventually learn how), so there are boy's clothes at home - if she can pass as a boy, she can leave the house, earn an income, buy food..

You'd be surprised how compelling this is to watch - no surprise it was nominated for the animated feature section at the Oscars. It's beautifully drawn, and clearly communicates the feelings of the nervous, confused little girl - if the religious police, who are everywhere, were to guess who she really was, she'd be subject to a vicious beating. At least. And what she's doing is so essential for her family's survival. To console herself, she immerses herself in storytelling - something she used to do with her dad. The reality of her life is like a dark fairytale in itself - it's so unbelievable from our Western point of view. Truly evocative of both the fear of the common people, and the beauty of the landscape - highly recommended.

There's a St. Patrick's Day special on tv as I write - well, I might get back to the festival website eventually! Mind you, U2 has chucked their collective hat in the ring, with their own YouTube channel, which will be broadcasting four of their iconic concerts over the next few weeks, starting tonight. I hope they remain on the channel afterwards, I'll have trouble watching them live..

Not enough hours in the day!