‘Breadwinner’ affecting tale of brave Afghan girl
In its power and beauty, “The Breadwinner” reminds us that animation can be as much a medium for adults as children.
Set in Afghanistan’s capital city of Kabul in 2001 during the waning days of Taliban rule, “The Breadwinner” does have an 11-year- old girl as its protagonist, but the film is unexpectedly toughminded in its depiction of the harsh excesses of life, detailing the reign of terror that resulted fromsociety being under the thumb of arrogant religious police.
Though director Nora Twomey’s may not be widely known, devotees of animation may be familiar with her background. Along with Tomm Moore and Paul Young, Twomey founded Cartoon Saloon in Kilkenny, Ireland, and was a key player in the group’s brilliant, Oscar-nominated features — “The Secret of Kells” and “Song of the Sea.”
“Breadwinner” shares those predecessors’ vivid sense of a specific culture and strikingly beautiful visuals. It shows us a city of sandstone-hued houses where colorful flowers and teeming markets come to convincing life.
Working fromthe youngadult novel by Deborah Ellis, screenwriter Anita Doron introduces us to intrepid Parvana (voiced by Saara Chaudry), a girl who does not like to be told what she can’t do. Viewers encounter her sitting on the ground with her father, Nurullah (Ali Badshah), in the Kabul bazaar, where they are selling some of their few remaining possessions so the family can buy food.
A master storyteller who fills in Parvana on Afghanistan’s troubled past, Nurulluh believes deeply that “stories remain in our hearts when all else is gone,” though Parvana is skeptical about their value. The father and daughter are suddenly confronted by aggressive members of the Taliban, who back off only when Nurullah demonstrates that he is an army veteran who has paid a steep price for his service.
Back home, mother Fattema ( Laara Sadiq) and older sister Soraya (Shaista Latif) worry about the fate of the family, which includes a young toddler, but things are about to get worse. The Taliban track Nurullah to his house and roughly arrest him for no apparent reason, carting him off to a grim prison and leaving the family in a terrible position.
Women are not allowed on the streets withoutmale guardians, and store owners will not sell to unac- companied females. When Fattema defies this ban and goes out to visit her husband, she is savagely beaten by a Taliban operative.
With the family’s survival at stake, Parvana takes the extreme step of cutting off her hair, donning clothes belonging to her late brother and going out to become the family’s breadwinner. Collaborating with Shauzia (Soma Chhaya), a friend from school who has done the same thing, the two girls discover that “When you are a boy you can go anywhere you like.”
This film is very much about the importance of story for one’s survival. A work of striking beauty and affecting emotional heft, it reminds us that the best of animation takes us anywhere at any time and makes us believe.