The summary of this movie sounds like Mulan, but The Breadwinner tells a much more powerful and relevant story about a family living in Taliban controlled Kabul. The "Mulan" character, Parvana, is just a small girl. Instead of the Huns, she fights against systematic oppression, unrelenting poverty, and fanatic soldiers who would shoot children down for not abiding by the Sharia law. There are mines in the fields on the way to work. No budding romances, no fun songs to train to, no cathartic final battles of glory. It's just survival day in and day out.
But the strength of an animated film is that even in rather dire scenes, the animators can still illustrate a quiet beauty in those war-torn towns and fields. As Parvana and her family try to keep each other in good humor with make-believe fables, the inner lives of these people can come alive in the fullest, brightest colors.
The family in this story act like a real family, and every other character is just as deep and flawed as real life people anywhere. Some of them are good, some are selfish, but they are all very afraid and unsure of their futures. While the system of their society is shown as evil, very few characters are actually evil. And even for the most distasteful character I kind of felt pity for at the end. I appreciated the nuance and subtlety in the writing.
But the strength of an animated film is that even in rather dire scenes, the animators can still illustrate a quiet beauty in those war-torn towns and fields. As Parvana and her family try to keep each other in good humor with make-believe fables, the inner lives of these people can come alive in the fullest, brightest colors.
The family in this story act like a real family, and every other character is just as deep and flawed as real life people anywhere. Some of them are good, some are selfish, but they are all very afraid and unsure of their futures. While the system of their society is shown as evil, very few characters are actually evil. And even for the most distasteful character I kind of felt pity for at the end. I appreciated the nuance and subtlety in the writing.