E-Mail This Article to a Friend OSAMA

Already possessed of a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film, and enjoying gala premieres introduced by Hillary Clinton, filmmaker Siddiq Barmak’s debut seems poised to become the Afghani version of Michael Winterbottom’s Welcome to Sarajevo. Lacking that film’s savvy and power, Osama will nevertheless provide American cinephiles with a window into a culture known mainly from the demonization/pity dichotomy created by the news media. Based upon a true story, it is the first Afghan film to emerge since the fall of the Taliban. A widow (Zubaida Sahar) cannot support her family because the Taliban forbids women to leave home unescorted by a "legal companion." Desperate for money, she asks her 12-year-old daughter (Marina Golbahari) to dress as a boy. The girl does so reluctantly, finding work in a small grocery. Soon she is forced to attend the Madrassa, the Taliban religious and military school. One boy who knows her secret names her "Osama," and she has trouble escaping suspicion. The cinematography is all earth tones and calm blues, but some occasional histrionic scenes where Osama screams in fear of being discovered undermine an otherwise quietly compelling narrative. In Dari with English subtitles. (82 minutes)