German director Werner Herzog speaks of the "voodoo of location, " or the abstract, indefinable power of shooting a film on location instead of in a studio or a back-lot. But is there also such thing as the "voodoo of time?" Is it possible for a film to take on new meaning and power based on when it was released? I would argue that if any film proves the existence of the "voodoo of time" it would be Mohsen Makhmalbaf's Kandahar. Released months before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Kandahar follows an Afghan refugee from Canada returning to her home country in order to find her sister. The woman, Nafas, is desperate to get to the Afghan city of Kandahar where her sister is planning on committing suicide in three days. Her sister had lost both her legs to a land mine and cannot take life under the Taliban any longer. Nafas follows a series of guides on her journey. First, she poses as a wife to an old man. Then, she follows a young boy named Khak who was recently expelled from a Qur'anic school. After she gets sick from drinking rotten well water, she is accompanied by an African American convert who now works as a local doctor. Finally, she is led by a man who scams the Red Cross for valuable false limbs. The film paints a vividly disturbing picture of life in the world's most dangerous country. The fact that it was released just before 9/11 gives it an almost prophetic tone. Even more, it makes the audience wonder how life could get any worse? The answer? Over a decade of war and destruction thanks to United States military actions. Kandahar is a startling meditation on violence, destruction, suffering.
9/10
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