amyramoon

As one with direct experience with the psychiatric hospitalization system, I would highly recommend this movie to any mental health professional. It presents a revolutionary, yet obvious take on how to treat mental illness and how to improve the quality of life for a patient who is suffering, by simply treating them like a human being in need of love and attention. David Tennant and Elisabeth Moss both presented the philosophy of such an endeavor well through their performances. This is a truly human story and a wonderful sneak peek into what can happen if we use our common sense and do what we feel is right. Unfortunately even today, many years after the events of this story, there are still challenges to overcome to give mentally ill patients the best care they deserve and focus on their needs above all. Are we protecting them or protecting ourselves from them? Speaking from the inside, I would say I'm not so sure.

This animated film takes us through the daily life of a young girl named Parvana who lives modestly with her family in Afghanistan during the war. They live in poverty in a small one-roomed enclosure in a dystopian society of the recent past, under constant fear of persecution and abuse. After her father is arrested, Parvana must disguise herself as a boy to provide for her family: mother, sister, and baby brother, who are unable to go out alone to buy food without being accompanied by a man. Throughout, there is an ongoing oral story going on, told by Parvana in parallel, which accompanies in an abstract way the trials she and her family face as the climax approaches. The artwork is beautiful and the scenes are heartfelt and considerate of the character's emotions, so we really form a connection with each of them. There are scenes that are hard to watch, violent, heart wrenching, and devastating, but this is a movie meant to be shared and experienced by as many as possible.

Fantastic in its orchestration, this film tells a story full of raw emotion and characters with terrible inner strength and immense convictions. It's a story which starts with compassion and innocent camaraderie, extends into jealousy and betrayal, culminating in redemption and peace. The characters are multifaceted and in the end, every personage can be identified with. I originally saw the betrayal as a way of long term protection from imminent murder, and in the end, the sway of intense emotions to lead to an inevitable fate. Every action in the movie had a reason and those could be derived from inference and careful thought. This is not a movie about good versus evil. It's a movie about the good evil complex present in all of us as soon as we discover the horrors of human passion.