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Movies / On DVD / Osama
Osama

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Osama (2003)

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Reviews Counted:100

Fresh:96

Rotten:4

Average Rating:7.8/10

Consensus: Osama is bitterly honest, deeply disturbing, and utterly worth watching.

Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for mature thematic elements

Runtime: 83 mins

Genre: Foreign Films

Theatrical Release:Jan 30, 2004 Limited

Box Office: $1,127,331

Synopsis: A 12-year-old girl, her mother, and a local village boy narrowly survive the brutal end of a peaceful demonstration organized by women who are oppressed by the cruel Taliban regime. After... A 12-year-old girl, her mother, and a local village boy narrowly survive the brutal end of a peaceful demonstration organized by women who are oppressed by the cruel Taliban regime. After witnessing such inhumane treatment, the mother is reminded of her own hardships as she and her daughter struggle to maintain their existence. With the young girl's father and brother killed, they must find any source of income they can while hiding it from the strict Taliban, which mandates that no woman may work or be outside the home without a legal male companion. The mother and her daughter care for patients at a sparse, under-stocked hospital run by foreigners. After a Taliban raid, the hospital is shut down and the mother and daughter are without income. Desperate for any type of job, the mother is forced to cut her daughter's hair and dress her as a boy so that she might earn money for the family. The mother pleads with a grocer who knew her husband to help her and hire the young girl to work in his store. He agrees and attempts to protect the girl - now disguised as a boy - and teach her how to be more convincing. One afternoon, the Taliban's religious police force all the men to a mosque for prayer. The girl, unfamiliar with the ways men pray, makes several mistakes and raises suspicion with one of the Taliban officials overseeing the ritual. He approaches the grocer and the girl after the prayers and questions them. The girl is filled with fright, but with the grocer's help dispels the official's doubt. The following day, all the boys of the village are corralled and taken to the Madrassa, a religious school which doubles as a center for Taliban military training. While attending the school, the girl's masculinity is constantly called into question. The young village beggar from the first scene, aware of the girl's secret, interjects and helps her, concealing her true identity by declaring her name is Osama. After increasing suspicions surface with the students and Taliban instructors, the girl is punished for not being able to complete a task proving her masculinity. In the end, the girl's own physiology defies her to reveal her true identity. As a result of her monumental lie, she is put on trial in front of the Taliban court and sentenced to marry an old Mullah. Upon arriving at his home, the destitute girl discovers he has three other wives - and she's forced to join them in their miserable world. [More]

Director: Siddiq Barmak

Director: Siddiq Barmak
Producer: Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Studio: MGM/UA

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Release:

Apr 27, 2004

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Osama

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/18/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Rolling Stone | comment Comment
08/14/07
Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Great films like Osama, thoughtfully considered, give us the ability to withhold blanket judgments and come that much closer to the truth.

Full Review Source: Christianity Today | comment Comment
09/27/06
Stefan Ulstein
Stefan Ulstein
Christianity Today

A wonderful and riveting movie experience.

Full Review Source: Perihelion Journal | comment Comment
09/11/06
Jay Antani
Jay Antani
Perihelion Journal

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/01/06
Empire Magazine
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Time Out

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat

The film has an almost documentary feel about it.

Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | comment Comment
02/05/05
Robert Roten
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope

The first film shot entirely in Afghanistan since the rise and fall of the Taliban, and it’s a heartbreaking look back at life under that regime.

Full Review Source: New York Magazine | comment Comment
08/07/04
Peter Rainer
Peter Rainer
New York Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Osama manages to surprise you with its story, even though we have no right to be surprised....Already ranks among the best films of the year.

Full Review Source: Nick's Flick Picks | comment Comment
07/01/04
Nick Davis
Nick Davis
Nick's Flick Picks

A film that is not only moving but valuable as a historical and social instrument.

Full Review Source: Reno Gazette-Journal | comment Comment
05/14/04
Forrest Hartman
Forrest Hartman
Reno Gazette-Journal

No histrionics or emotional manipulations here. Its view of the Taliban is frightening precisely because it is real; dramatic exaggerations are unnecessary.

Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | comment Comment
05/06/04
Eric D. Snider
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com

Gives real insight into a part of the world that likely will dominate our newscasts and newspapers for years to come...

Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | comment Comment
05/04/04
John Beifuss
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

Barmak details the Taliban's picayune restrictions, which would be comic if they weren't enforced with such brutality.

Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment Comment
05/01/04
Sean Means
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune

It offers valuable insights into a foreign culture that few of us have more than a cursory knowledge about.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
04/30/04
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Traps you in a quicksand pull, slowly sucking you into its world until it's too late to escape unscathed.

Full Review Source: Orlando Weekly | comment Comment
04/24/04
Bret McCabe
Bret McCabe
Orlando Weekly

We've heard so much about the cruelty of the Taliban that we think we've heard it all. But there's something about seeing one small human story played out that is still overwhelming.

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
04/23/04
Jay Boyar
Jay Boyar
Orlando Sentinel

Filmado apenas em locações, provoca um impacto ainda maior ao mostrar um país destruído pela guerra – evocando, neste sentido, o inesquecível Alemanha, Ano Zero.

Full Review Source: Cinema em Cena | comment Comment
04/21/04
Pablo Villaca
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

An unforgettable harrowing examination of the lives of the Afghan people.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
04/18/04
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
 
 
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