Why you can trust GamesRadar+
Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.
The humanitarian tragedy currently engulfing Afghanistan has given Mohsen Makhmalbaf's polemical Kandahar a phenomenal topicality, prompting President Bush to demand a screening.
Filmed in neighbouring Iran, this semi-fictionalised drama is structured around a quest. Nafas (Nelofar Pazira), an exiled Afghan journalist, returns to her homeland in an effort to prevent her sister from committing suicide. Having crossed the border, a disguised Nafas is guided towards the sacred city of Kandahar - - first by a young boy, then by an African-American Muslim doctor, and finally by a peasant seeking a pair of artificial limbs for his wife...
Kandahar depicts a country ravaged by war, poverty and disease, where women have been stripped of the most basic civil rights by the Taliban regime. Makhmalbaf uses surrealistic imagery - - amputees racing across the desert on crutches to pick up prosthetic legs dropped by parachutes - - to convey a grotesque reality.
Article continues below
Sign up for the Total Film Newsletter
Bringing all the latest movie news, features, and reviews to your inbox
The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine.
