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08/17/02
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Kandahar (2001)
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Reviews Counted:96
Fresh:85
Rotten:11
Average Rating:7.5/10
Consensus: Eerily timely, Kandahar offers haunting images of a bleak land.
Theatrical Release:Dec 14, 2001 Limited
Synopsis: Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf presents this partially fictionalized documentary that illustrates the suffering of Afghan women under the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in the year 2000. The... [More]
Starring: Niloufar Pazira, Hassan Tantai, Sadou Teymouri, Hayatalah Hakimi
Director: Mohsen Makhmalbaf
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Reviews for Kandahar
Kandahar works best as a semidocumentary, explaining the overwhelming hunger and poverty, the savage effects of land mines and the barbaric treatment of women in Afghanistan.
07/05/02
Makhmalbaf fully achieves his aim of showing life in a society devoid of hope (especially for women) and ruled by soul-crushing barbarians.
04/26/02
It's a film that is sometimes naive and at other times unsettling, but it has a rawness and power that sticks in your throat.
04/18/02
'...doesn’t quite have the cohesion and power of the sublime Gabbeh... but still remains strong and compelling'
04/05/02
Makhmalbaf gives Kandahar an eerie grace, making it not only a timely movie but a poetic one.
03/29/02
There's no denying the film has its share of fascinating moments -- or that, on whole, it has a lasting power, especially its bleak, sucker-punch ending.
03/29/02
Moves not like a story but a poem, and the images it presents to us are unforgettable.
03/29/02
Top CriticAdds valuable perspective and context to the war in Afghanistan by providing ideas and images that the nightly news cannot deliver.
03/15/02
Makes up in indignation, passion and poetry what it lacks in filmmaking gloss.
03/14/02
Its themes are universal, its performances are effective in their simplicity and the direction is confident and unfussy.
03/14/02
The film gives a glimpse into a land that is as far removed from Western society as any in the world.
03/11/02
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03/09/02
Unforgettable images resonate throughout Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf's compelling docudrama.
03/07/02
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03/05/02
The film's physical and thematic terrain, that of Afghanistan and the struggles of its people, register with emotion.
03/01/02
If the dramatics of the movie fail to engage as fully as they should, Kandahar remains fascinating as a piece of lyrical journalism.
03/01/02
Intense, anecdotal and empowered by perversely beautiful imagery.
03/01/02
Top CriticPerhaps best appreciated as a record of what life was like before the U.S. invasion and as a lesson in why the rest of the world should have cared even before the terrorist attacks.
03/01/02
Top CriticAlthough it's unevenly acted, Kandahar is a devastating film.
02/28/02
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