“The Orphanage” – A Refuge? [MOVIE REVIEW]
“The Orphanage.” Photo courtesy of Virginie Surdej. “The Orphanage,” a film by female Afghani director/writer Shahrbanoo Sadat, is enlightening in many ways. What could be a depressing look into the abandoned in Afghanistan, is, instead, a film illustrating the French aphorism — the more things change, the more they remain the same. We first meet 15 year old Qodrat as he enjoys his main pleasure in life, a Bollywood movie that veers from hyper stylized fight sequences to the standard Bollywood flash musical finish with a beautiful young woman, clothed in gold lame, singing and dancing. Qodrat, homeless, ekes out a living on the streets of Kabul stealing and scalping tickets to the cinema. Apprehended by the police, he, along with several other teens, is sent to the local orphanage. It’s the late 1980s and this is Soviet era Afghanistan. Qodrat enters the school with several others, none of whom has gone beyond the third grade. Their schooling will be thorough, and much of it in Russian. This is a film about the boys and their relationships. The teachers and director are primarily in the background. With the exception of the oldest student, deemed the “captain,” most everyone gets…
Read this story on easyreadernews.com