Osama Reviews
December 20, 2017
Like Mohsen Makhmalbaf's garlanded Kandahar, Siddiq Barmak's Osama springs up colourful and frightening.
August 14, 2007
Original Score: 3/4
April 1, 2006
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
August 7, 2004
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.
April 23, 2004
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.
Original Score: 4/5
April 11, 2004
Painfully realistic.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
March 12, 2004
Barmak proves an able craftsman. If the film's story stammers here and there, its overall power can't be denied.
Original Score: B+
March 12, 2004
Barmak and his little star bring artistry and truth to the plight of women under the Taliban.
Original Score: 3.5/4
March 11, 2004
A harrowing look at a disturbingly recent time that seems more rooted in a barbaric, distant past.
Original Score: B+
March 11, 2004
A must-see for anyone with an interest in the rest of the world.
Original Score: 4/5
March 11, 2004
A poignant film with stinging images.
Full Review
| Original Score: B+
March 10, 2004
We are certainly entitled to marvel at its very existence, but that isn't enough. The work itself is extraordinary.
March 1, 2004
In most ways that count, it's as true as any documentary.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/4
February 26, 2004
Heartbreaking stuff.
Original Score: 3.5/4
February 26, 2004
I found Mr. Barmak's direction too by-the-numbers, and Ms. Goldbahari's Osama a one-note performance in her relentlessly whimpering (though perfectly understandable) self-pity.
February 23, 2004
Wonderful film, and what a remarkable achievement.
February 20, 2004
A bleak, all too realistic drama.
February 20, 2004
Although it's a drama, Osama feels like urgent documentary.
February 20, 2004
Without piling on unnecessary pathos, and with a devotion to simply telling the truth of a situation, Osama works a rough kind of magic.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
February 20, 2004
A melancholy movie, but a necessary one.
Original Score: 3/4