A spectacular watch. Review on Osama Movie

If I only had one word to describe this movie, it would be haunting. Everything from the story itself, to the fate the girl suffered, to the sorrow which blazes so clearly in her eyes will remain with you long after you leave the cinema. Siddiq Barmak captured emotions so raw that you can do nothing but feel the pain the characters on screen projects to you..

Set in Afghanistan during the Taliban regime, ?Osama? is about a twelve year old girl who lives with her mother and grandmother who are both widows. As the laws states in Afghanistan, women were not allowed to work, not allowed to set foot outside the house without a male guardian nor allowed to show any of their body parts to any male who are not immediate family.

It was an era where women were treated little better than cattle and live stock. Many were living in extreme poverty and were starving; especially the women who had no male breadwinner in their family. Unable to make ends meet, the desperate woman cut her daughter?s hair and dressed him up as a boy so that she could find work and food for the family. Instead, she was forced to enrol in a school by the Taliban where she lived in constant fear of her identity being revealed, protected by her only friend, a boy named Spandi.

This movie will hold you enthral from start to ending. It was nothing short of spectacular in every sense. The cinematography was wonderfully done and shot. The angles chosen by the director helps focus on the emotions from each of the characters. The honesty from the actors are so touching that you feel as though you know them. There was no feeling of the whole situation being rehearsed or fake. What makes it all the more impressive is the fact that none of the actors were professional. Marina Golbahari who plays Osama was found when she was begging in the streets of Kabul and the rest of the cast were found in various refugee camps

You will feel the despair in the scenes the camera catches, like the limping young boy in the hospital corridor, the morning Osama looks at her short hair for the first time in the mirror, the skipping scenes which makes you feel the desperation she puts into that simple act in order to escape her reality if even just for a little while. Siddiq spared nothing in order to portray the pain and horror that existed for these woman and for Osama.

A heart wrenching movie that will leave you breathless. Truly a must watch.