I saw this movie and was incredibly impressed by it but my question is how exactly does it end? Is she left behind and sent to prison or does she get to leave with the rest of the women who are on their way to the wedding?
shareSee I was confused about that too. I couldn't understand the last few sentences of the movie. I have to watch it again and try to figure it out.
shareOh don't you just hate ambiguous endings?! I too wish that the ending was more "clear cut" & also had trouble interpreting the ending.I would like to know Nafa's fate as well as that of her doomed sister too.
Having said that though I was also extremely impressed with the film as a whole & overall thought it compelling-It should be required viewing by everyone I think.
The most poignant scene I thought was the pitiful sight of the young crippled Afghan men racing each other on their crutches in an attempt to be the first to reach the parachutes for the false legs raining down from the sky.The whole scene had an almost ethereal feeling to it that even the most hardest of hearts must have found truly moving.It certainly made me think & I for one shall never forget it.
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I got the impression that she was let go and the whole thing about being in prison was about having to wear the burga, not a physical prison with bars. But I'm not sure what happened to her sister.
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hey, about that part, what does she say to get away???
shareShe is left behind as a "gift" to the groom... remember when she answers "I am a cousin of the bride" to the lady at the end? She stays because those who were picked out to stay become 'gifts' forever to the groom...
I know this because I went to a speach by an Afghan lady whom grew up around the regime and before it...
THE PINNACLE OF THE MIND - A JVL SHORT FEATURE
I watched this movie last night and found it one of the most gripping movies I have watched for ages, especially as it followed "The Boy Who Plays on the Buddhas of Bamiyan" which was also fascinating. I also couldn't catch what was said at the end so was left totally frustrated as to whether she was left behind and therefore wouldn't make it to Kandahar. I wish I'd had the subtitles turned on and will have to get the video out as it doesn't seem to be reshowing in the near future. At least there are several informative postings showing that it was not quite clear.
shareif you see the other movie 'return to kandahar' you'll see the rest of the
story. There is no happy ending to the story.
I'm even more confused now as I don't know which version of the movie it was that I watched. The board on Return to Kandahar doesn't make the differences clear enough for me to tell. Would like to see the version I haven't seen yet if anyone can explain.
shareReturn to Kandahar is different from Kandahar. Return to Kandahar is an actual documentary with Nelofer Pazira (Nafas from Kandahar) explaining some about the movie, and the situation that made her return to Kandahar to search for her "sister". They are two very separate entities, but definitely intertwined. You need to watch both.
shareAlthoug J_Vincent_Langel might have a point, the way i (without knowning the cultural background) see the end is that this movie wants to express that it doesn't really matter if she got away or sent to a real prison because having to wear the burga is just like prison. So no matter what you think of happened in the end, she is imprisoned anyways. And that's what the end was supposed to show imo.
shareAt both the beginning and the end of the movie, Nafas narrates that she is now a prisoner of a "woman's prison" for "you, my dear sister," implying that the attempted rescue of her sister was the reason that she was ended up in a woman's prison. The image of the eclipse is shown twice in the movie, once in the beginning and once at the very end. The shot behind the burga (the cloth) was supposed to visually remind us of the squares formed by prison bars, and that it symbolized an actual prison. After the shot of the burga being lowered over the camera to show the setting sun, the next shot is one of the eclipse. Her sister was suppposed to kill herself during the next eclipse, and instead of the the film showing us a shot of her sister killing herself (which would probably have been pretty confusing unless a scene with her was added earlier in the film), the film chose to show the eclipse instead. That said, I'm pretty sure that Nafas lands herself in a woman's prison before she can save her sister from committing suicide.
sharei really like your explanation of the ending (because it makes sense and this film doesn't) but her prison is probably the story itself. the narration in the end (when she is near kandahar) is the narration in the beginning: one that she is recording on the helicopter. thus, she cannot be in an actual woman's prison because, technically, she hasn't even landed yet and the journey hasn't begun. the helicopter also passes by the red cross camp: at that point in time, nafas is on the helicopter (in the air) as well as in the camp (on land). you can hear magda's voice on the radio in the helicopter (beginning: with nafas in it) as well as watch her say it in person (ending: with nafas standing behind her). you hear her say, 'hello-hello, this is magda speaking' and you watch the men on the crutches run out and fall and you see the legs the helicopter delivers as bookends. so, there's no end/beginning; it just loops.
shareShe is left behind as a "gift" to the groom... remember when she answers "I am a cousin of the bride" to the lady at the end? She stays because those who were picked out to stay become 'gifts' forever to the groom...
Thanks for the explanation.
And a post-script...
I don't know why some posters think there isn't a straight linear narrative to this film, and I suspect it's because they think exotic films necessarily have a more complex narrative structure. If anything this film is missing a third act.
At the very end, the Burqa zooms in, and the tiny holes cut for vision in the Burqa, become like a prison, and then at the very end, the Solar Eclipse is seen, which means, she DID goto prison, and her "sister" commited suicide because she was in prison during the eclipse.
Sadly, they should extended this movie into a 3rd act, I would have really liked to see some of her life in the prison, and what happens when she gets out and finds out about her sisters suicide, does she return to canada? Does she return to see the black-american doctor?
So many I don't knows.. what a horrible film. I actually got into it when I caught it on one of the movie channels, and I'm a 21 year old male who likes ESPN!
What a true glimpse into the world we have no idea about... sad
I was a little stunned at the end, although I don't know why I should be. I had the same feeling when I saw Osama -utter hopelessness. You are right -the world we have no idea about. And yes, I believe she was imprisoned, or at least she was not among those who were let go. So, that would imply that she did not save her sister.
sharei just finished watchin this amazin movie.. yeah the end is kinda confusing... this movie is to some extent based on the lead character of the movie.. lady who plays "nafas"...she in reality is an afghan.. and she is in canada.. she made an effort to enter afghanistan in 1998 coz' she got a sucucide note.. not from her sis but her frnd.. and she was goin to kabul not kandhar.. but even she cudnt enter kabul..but the sequence of events in the movie.. they are not entirely what she faced.. they are more to do with what they wanted to shw abut afghanistan..poverty..extemist n other sad stuff...and the end of the movie is not that she is behind any bars of any prison... watch the movie starting carefully.. she is freee.. itz the image she is now has abut afghanistan... is has nothing to do with any damn prison.. and yeah nothing related to gift to the groom :)... but yeah the movie is goood...
shareWe just watched the movie last night. It is kind of sad. We were taken aback by the background music (somehow did not seem to fit there).
We were confused about the ending too since the dialog was not clear. Rewinding and watching again, we came to the conclusion that she was in prison. The holes in the wall of the prison was what they focus on in the beginning and the end of the movie.
I just watched the movie and i am always amazed that the film crew and the sound crew ..regardless of the budget and the situation have such a birds eye view of all and yet .. the film maker ........... and i say that with respect .. has the vision to show us the viewers their content ..... the movie was a very light breeze over a very very black subject .... I congratulate the film makers for the attempt to show the plight of women ...... it disturbs me as a gay man .. and i say as a gay man as i see the abuse from both men and women and the injusitice ..... the reality is if the film was 100% acurate and she was going to save her sister she would have paid ..... the main reason of the movie was to show us the viewer different impossible situations ........
Congratulations 9 stars
This topic has really helped my udnerstanding of the movie, since part of my exam is based on this.
When my Professor announced that we were going to be watching a documentrary, I expected a dull and boring movie to put me to sleep, but it was pleasant surprise when I stayed awake throughout. We never finished the movie which bummed me out a bit, but this was definetly a great movie.
The ending was pretty depressing, since Nafas does end up with the same fate as her sister. That little boy, who was her guide was pretty funny. It shows what they have to do just to live.
I understood this completely different.
The end shows the eclipse so you know that she's too late.
She talks about prison, says she always succesfully avoided them, so she doesn't go to prison litteraly.
She is in prison because she can't be who she is, she has to be whatever the Afghan society (or at least Taliban) expects from her to get where she's going.
By saying she's the cousin of the bride she is locking herself up. She has no other choice.