Andrew McMurtryKhakestar-o-khak (Earth and Ashes) 8/10
June 4th 2008 07:24
From the moment the film begins, you are confronted by endless desert, and gentle but extremely haunting music reflecting years of death, anguish and sorrow. Earth And Ashes is from Afghanistan, directed by Atiq Rahimi with what appears to be untrained actors (most likely to add to the honesty of their portrayals), and it grabs you with its beautiful simplicity in storytelling and breathtaking cinematography of the Afghan landscape.
Dastaguir is an old man travelling with his young grandson to meet his son at the mines where he works. He bears heartbreaking news about his family, and must get to his son before the news reaches him first, or Dastaguir fears his son will be driven mad with grief and pain. But almost fatefully, his grandson Yassin always manages to hold back Dastaguir from reaching the transport he is waiting for to get to his son, as Yassin is desperately searching for "the lost voices" in the nearby abandoned military tank and seems to stubbornly ignore everything his despairing grandfather asks of him. During their long harrowing journey (more so for Dastaguir than for the still innocent Yassin) to the mines, they encounters several people with equally tragic tales to their own and all give him blessings from god, but Dastaguir struggles to come to terms with his loss, and how he must remain on Earth with so much pain to carry with him.
The story unfolds very slowly, and you have to be a very patient audience to sit through it and appreciate it. But the pace suits the story perfectly, as Dastaguir must wait days in the desert with only his pain to accompany him until transport arrives, his grandson Yassin only adding to his pain as he a constant reminder of his loss and the horrors of war. The mental torture of this wait would be completely lost on the audience if we weren't made to wait with them. The dialogue is minimal, but no word is wasted. Everything said has profound meaning, and gives powerful insight into their world without the filtering of a western judgement on their values or way of life, like we saw in The Kite Runner (don't get me wrong, I liked the film very much, but it had an incredibly corny "American" ending to a story that only washed over the conflict in Afghanistan).
Although I found the editing a little ponderous at times, the cinematography was amazing. Every shot was carefully crafted and told a thousand stories at once. I am not verbally equipped to adequately describe how beautiful it was. And the song that plays at the closing of the film will break anyone's heart.
As the film slowly builds up, the climax really makes you get up and take notice - the outpouring of emotion that was bottled up for most of this quiet film, is almost explosive.
I read in a review of Earth And Ashes comparisons to The Odyssey, and I personally saw similarities to Waiting For Godot. But these comparisons, whichever you choose to believe, reflect on the powerfully philosophical, emotional and physical journey that you will experience in this film.
Dastaguir is an old man travelling with his young grandson to meet his son at the mines where he works. He bears heartbreaking news about his family, and must get to his son before the news reaches him first, or Dastaguir fears his son will be driven mad with grief and pain. But almost fatefully, his grandson Yassin always manages to hold back Dastaguir from reaching the transport he is waiting for to get to his son, as Yassin is desperately searching for "the lost voices" in the nearby abandoned military tank and seems to stubbornly ignore everything his despairing grandfather asks of him. During their long harrowing journey (more so for Dastaguir than for the still innocent Yassin) to the mines, they encounters several people with equally tragic tales to their own and all give him blessings from god, but Dastaguir struggles to come to terms with his loss, and how he must remain on Earth with so much pain to carry with him.
The story unfolds very slowly, and you have to be a very patient audience to sit through it and appreciate it. But the pace suits the story perfectly, as Dastaguir must wait days in the desert with only his pain to accompany him until transport arrives, his grandson Yassin only adding to his pain as he a constant reminder of his loss and the horrors of war. The mental torture of this wait would be completely lost on the audience if we weren't made to wait with them. The dialogue is minimal, but no word is wasted. Everything said has profound meaning, and gives powerful insight into their world without the filtering of a western judgement on their values or way of life, like we saw in The Kite Runner (don't get me wrong, I liked the film very much, but it had an incredibly corny "American" ending to a story that only washed over the conflict in Afghanistan).
Although I found the editing a little ponderous at times, the cinematography was amazing. Every shot was carefully crafted and told a thousand stories at once. I am not verbally equipped to adequately describe how beautiful it was. And the song that plays at the closing of the film will break anyone's heart.
As the film slowly builds up, the climax really makes you get up and take notice - the outpouring of emotion that was bottled up for most of this quiet film, is almost explosive.
I read in a review of Earth And Ashes comparisons to The Odyssey, and I personally saw similarities to Waiting For Godot. But these comparisons, whichever you choose to believe, reflect on the powerfully philosophical, emotional and physical journey that you will experience in this film.
| 64 |
| Vote |
Shared on
Add To: 
Subscribe to this blog
