My Pure Land

28th STOCKHOLM INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL. DAY 5, NOV 12th 2017. International premiere.

From the first few frames, this tale of female resistance, and the right to protect what's yours, vibrates with power. It's flawed but inspiring.

Filmed in Lahore, Pakistan, "My Pure Land" (2017) is the feature-length debut of British Pakistani director Sarmad Masud. A British production, it's the UK submission for the Foreign Language Film Award of the 90th Annual Academy Awards.

This British financed film is entirely set in Pakistan. Made by British-Pakistani director Sarmad Masud, it is based on a true story that casts a withering look at the patriarchal system of that nation and the corruption of the local authorities. Told in a non-linear style, it tells of three women faced with armed men led by her uncle who try to take her property forcibly from her. They lay siege to the house, fuelled by a sense of entitlement where men often have elevated property rights over women, even in a situation such as this one where the women were quite clearly the rightful owners of the land. The non-linear structure allows for several surprise plot developments to be introduced to us in a way that heightens the drama and increases the sympathy for the women. I wouldn't say it was necessarily the most dynamic story overall but the Pakistan setting did add a fair bit of authentic local colour, as it is not a part of the world known for film production. So, while this one felt a little bit limited in some ways, it definitely offers up something a little different too.

Wow! This is my kind of movie. Socially progressive motivation, Pakistan, contemporary Spaghetti Western...it's perfect! I really don't know what else to add. It was on UK Netflix, but I have not seen the DVD anywhere. lol If I hate a movie I can write forever about it but when it's really good like this one...that's about all I care to say. The score on here? Wow. Tough audience. You have to wonder about the accuracy of ratings that put it significantly below "Dumb and Dumber" or way below "Pulp Fiction". I think that last one indicates why there are so few really good movies coming out. If you can do crap and get a "9" on here, why do the hard yards, create a great film...for a 6.5? Such a sad, sad state of affairs, imho.

Nicely built edited acted as well as a good horifying true story about what some women have to do to have the right to live on their own land when women like them, not far from there, gets ready going clubbing, recommended