Three months ago, Kandahar would have barely registered a blip on the cinematic radar, but since the events of 9/11, people around the world are now familiar with the former Taliban stronghold.  Don't go thinking this film was hastily rushed into theatres because of the war on terrorism (though at times, it looks like it was) because it's been around for a while, and even competed in Cannes this past May (it won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury).

Kandahar, directed by Iranian master Mohsen Makhmalbaf (Gabbeh), is about a woman named Nafas (Niloufar Pazira) who was born in India but raised in Kabul.  When she was 16, her family fled to Pakistan and, a year later, settled in Canada, where she became a television journalist.  Nafas has a sister who was left behind in Afghanistan because her legs were blown off by a landmine during the escape.  Now broken both physically (because of the legs) and spiritually (because of the Taliban and their oppression of women), the sister sends Nafas a letter saying she's planning on taking her own life during the millennium's final eclipse.

With just days to intervene, Nafas flies to Iran and attempt to find somebody to smuggle her across the border into Afghanistan and to Kandahar. Instead, she encounters a series of odd and often comical situations and colorful characters, like a young tour guide desperately trying to sell Nafas a ring he stole off the finger of a corpse, and a haunting scene where artificial legs are dropped from the sky by a Red Cross plane as a pack of people hobbling around on crutches race to have their first pick (it's reminiscent of A.I.).  Through the whole ordeal, Nafas chronicles everything into a pocket tape-recorder, like Felicity.  Her journey reminded me of a twisted take on The Wizard of Oz (there's even a man behind a curtain who isn't what he seems) or, more recently, The Fellowship of the Ring.

Based on a story that actually happened to Pazira (though it was a friend, not a sister), Kandahar was filmed in Iran, just a stone's throw from the Afghani border.  Makhmalbaf's point was to show the world the miserable plight of Afghan women, but thanks to Binny L. and the Taliban Crew, we already have an idea.  Jafar Panahi's The Circle did a much better job in a much more dramatic fashion earlier this year.

Makhmalbaf has never been my favorite Iranian director, and Kandahar isn't going to change my thinking.  Despite the presence of mostly non-actors, the appeal of most other Iranian cinema is its realism via believable performances.  As beautifully photographed and compelling as Makhmalbaf's subject is, Kandahar doesn't once seem believable.  It wants to be both a documentary and a feature film, but, sadly, it doesn't succeed with either.

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