Osama [DVD]

For me this was the most socking movie I have ever seen. I wanted to compare it with another impressive movie, Khandehar, which I saw afterward. And of course I can compare it up to a certain point. Both movies describe the Taliban oppressive fundamentalist regime, where the life of women is reduced or even wide out from history; they are regarded as a marginal force who are hidden literally from any view and in all the possible ways: physically - they are forced to wear burkas, spiritually - they have to role, political and social - they are just an invisible population.People with guns are all over and there is a threatening atmosphere in the streets, in the houses, in the little shops, even in the desert. All live in fear, obeying to the Taliban's regime. Miseries of the daily life are endured by the civil population, most of them struggling for their daily survival. And if they are lucky enough to survive the day, the next day can be worse.Osama is both powerfully shocking and simple. Osama, is the first movie produced by Afghanistan filmmakers after the fall of the Taliban. Women are not allowed to work, but they have to find a way to support themselves and their families. A widow disguises her young daughter, as a boy so she can work somewhere and in this way would support herself and her mother. The name of the girl became Osama.Osama's mother asked someone who used to be a friend of her husband, to let Osama work for something to eat. He accepted being aware that it is at a great risk. So, by the end of the day, Osama walked the scary streets back home with something to eat for her mother and grandmother who were hidden in the house.Women live totally dependent on men and at the will of the Taliban. They loose any identity as women and any hopes for the future.Osama is shy and does not really understand the life around her. She does things because she is told to do so and cries a lot.When the Taliban police look after new boy recruits for their indoctrinating program in the local school, Osama is taken to join their program against her will. What would happen then with her family is easy to guess, since the girl is taken by force and there is no way to return...She is expected to behave as all the other boys and she tries hard. But she is sensitive and cries and can not perform the physical exercises as the others. She passes well the "cleaning lesson" when everybody is almost naked and has to perform a cleaning ritual.Boys and men around notice that her body is feminine and tease and chase her because of that. The other boys would harass her because she, Osama, looks like a girl. One single orphan from the street who knows her secret tries to persuade the mob that she is a boy and in doing so, he asked her to climb a tree. She did well going up the tree, the problem was that she could not come down. So, she drove the attention of the chief Taliban and after one day punishment on top of a pit, something happened and they all realized she was a girl.She was sent to the public trial where she is sold to an old Taliban who would take her to his place and keep her locked together with his other so called wives.And in this way they considered that "justice has been done" ...The cruel fate of Osama can be an exponent of all Afgan women whose lives were banished. Her fragility and innocence is shown on the background of an absolute cruelty. Osama does not speak very much in the movie, there is nothing to speak about. There is a deep sadness shown in her eyes.The art of the director of this movie is even greater because he uses non-actors for the roles in the film and their acts put together built the most powerful real movie I have ever seen.It is sad to know that this place and kind of life exist in the world, but it is even sadder not to know about it.

As Taliban has recently swept over Afghanistan, this movie is very timely and shows the extreme regression and fear that women lived under the Taliban regime. Taliban rules with an iron first and follows a draconian version of Sharia law that treats women as third class citizens and their place is in home where women are meant to do home work, breed and rear children and are sexual objects for men's pleasure.The movie tells the story of a family who has lost their male heir and are going hungry without any support system. The mother convinces the daughter to cut her hair and dress up as male so as to get work and so that she (now he) can roam freely on Afghan streets without the need of being accompanied by a male.So as not to spoil the movie for you, I will leave the story here, but as the movie progresses, you cannot help but feel the helplessness felt by the Afghan women and feel the dark, gloomy lives they are forced to live under these ruthless, regressive cowboys. Get ready to feel close to real feelings of pain.The best moment in the movie is when an elderly man who is 65+ years weds a 14 year old and on the night of consummation, offers her a set of locks to chose from which will lock her physically, intellectually and emotionally. When she is surprised by the offer and cannot make up her mind, the man shows her the biggest lock and tells her that it is for her.This is a rare gem of a movie that should have gone to Oscars. Glad I watched this and recommend everyone to watch this.

The film is about the plight of women in Afghanistan during the Talibans. Osama is the name taken up by a young Afghan girl, who is forced to pretend she is a boy in order to earn money for her family (all men are gone or dead) so they would not starve to death. The Talibans have forbidden women to work, to go outside without a man, to go to school, or to do much of anything else, and they beat, torture, rape, and murder anyone who dares to oppose them, or be critical of them. Little "Osama" lives amid this madness and cruelty, which the film captures -- only the heartless will fail to see and be moved (as with some radical-left reviewers here at Amazon). She bravely ventures out onto the streets alone, dressed as a boy, and so the story goes from there, with little Osama finally being discovered and sold off into sexual slavery to a pedophile Mullah. It was made by native Afghans, and is authentic, giving the viewer a first-hand look into what life was like for girls, women, and honest men also under the Talibans. Anyone who today considers that "nothing has changed" since the American-led invasion should see this film -- forget Michael Moore's malicious fantasy, this is far more of a "documentary" than his flatulence -- to understand that even while women still wear the burka in many parts of Afghanistan, the fact that they can go out and hold a job, walk outside without a male relative escorting them, not be beaten up by bearded women-hating fanatics if they accidentally show a bit of skin, and regain substantial power over other basic life decisions, is nothing short of a major revolution. And facts be known, in many parts of Afghanistan, the burka is being given up altogether. The Talibans are not completely gone, however, and both they and their cousins as embodied by the al-Qaeda car-bombers and assassins in Iraq (now in control of Fallujah, for example, where Sharia Law has been imposed) are deliberately targeting for murder all western-looking women, women's rights and education groups, voter registration activists, and virtually any and all Iraqi citizens who are happy enough to emulate the Western lifestyle, or merely to enjoy the new freedoms. This film will give you a background of the ordinary person's interaction with such religious fanatics as the Talibans, who make conservative Christians in the USA appear as flaming liberals! For this reason, we find the ironic situation where liberal political groups in Iraq and Afghanistan, who are genuinely concerned for freedom, democracy, justice, human rights, freedom of speech and press, and women's liberation, are big supporters of the Bush policy (and of G.W. Bush personally) being very happy at the demise of the Talibans and Baathist murderers, at the same time liberal political groups in the USA (claiming interest in the same issues) are against the Bush policy and person. Ironic indeed!

Dommage les sous titres sont en anglais ! Bah on révisé...

Ce film est excellent. Entre le documentaire et le cinéma, ce livre est poignant de vérité et ne romance aucune situation. A voir absolument.

Ca commence comme un documentaire et on glisse dans cette histoire magnifiquement jouée comme si on y était. On ressort en état de choc! Inoubliable.

SUPER le dvd au niveau de la qualité de l'image, mk2 est un éditeur sérieux !

I have only recenly started viewing foreign / sub title films, especially French Horror genre. I have to say, this is my second purchase of an afgan film, 1st Kite Flyier. Osama and The Kite Flyier, both have excellent strong actresses/actors, excellent stories/ fact base and the landscape, although baron, scary, yet beautiful.Marina is an excellent actress, far superior from those in hollywood. What is an extremely low budget film, when viewing, you would think millions have been spent; may be hollywood directors need to undertake some research into other world wide filmich.Please remember that this is been certified as 12 certificate. Although there is no ` hard ' hitting scenes, they are left to the viewers imagination, one particular scene is when Osama is beaten when found out she is female, and personally feel that it should of been raised to 15 as this is a very bleak film, but beautifully made and standing ovation for Marina who plays Osama.