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Kandahar

Play trailer Poster for Kandahar Released Dec 14, 2001 1h 25m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
89% Tomatometer 100 Reviews 75% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
Nafas is a young Afghan journalist who has taken refuge in Canada. She receives a desperate letter from her little sister, who has stayed behind in Afghanistan and has decided to end her life before the imminently approaching eclipse of the sun. Nafas fled her country during the Taliban civil war. She decides to go and help her sister in Kandahar and attempts to cross the Iran-Afghanistan border...
Kandahar

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Critics Consensus

Eerily timely, Kandahar offers haunting images of a bleak land.

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Critics Reviews

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Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader Thanks to the shifting tone and manner of Kandahar, we wind up responding in many different ways at once, and if the overall effect is still scattered, the burden of making sense of it all–as art and as reality–reverts to us. Rated: 3/4 Aug 12, 2022 Full Review David Ansen Newsweek These lunar landscapes and grotesque visions are as strange and haunting as a science-fiction fantasy. Would that it were. Mar 31, 2008 Full Review Fred Camper Chicago Reader Rated: 3/4 Jun 24, 2003 Full Review Felicia Feaster Creative Loafing Less interesting as a Westerner's primer on Afghanistan's horrors, the film becomes truly transfixing when it assumes the languid, neorealist style of the Iranian cinema. Feb 3, 2020 Full Review Mark Steyn The Spectator Mohsen Makhmalbaf, the Iranian director, has produced an inside-the-burqa look at women's life under the Taleban. Feb 2, 2018 Full Review Film Threat Rated: 4/5 Dec 6, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (198) audience reviews
S R 1001 movies to see before you die. An interesting film showing the tragedies of Afghanistan's people that they face from a female perspective. It seemed a bit contrived, but its message still resonates. RUS. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 09/13/23 Full Review Diane S Don't understand why RT gave this movie 89% It was full of holes, disjointed and at times ludicrous. I mean what was the Asian 007 bike rider about?? I'm at a loss. Wasted 2 hours of my life watching this rubbish. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 08/13/23 Full Review David M Kandahar is a non-stop action thriller that shows the incredible complexities of that region of our world amid terrorism, nationalism, tribalism, religious zealotry, military conflict, espionage- all rolled into one- do yourself a favor & go see it! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/27/23 Full Review William L A despondent look at a country suffering from self-isolation, religious radicalism, repression, and a harsh environment, Kandahar gained a place in international film rotations largely because it coincided with the events of 9/11 and represented the suffering that some endured as a part of daily life under the Taliban. Some of those in are sympathetic, some morally gray, and others simple grifters; as a road movie intended to depict Afghanistan in the years prior to decades of international conflict, Kandahar is a decent enough film, though some of the acting is distinctly amateurish at times. What really is stunning about this film is hidden in the cast list - Dawud Salahuddin, credited as Hassan Tantai. He plays an American-born Muslim named Tabib who came to the Middle East in search of religious fulfilment and to fight on behalf of his beliefs, but comes to be disillusioned by much of what he finds. Not only does his character seem much more interesting than that of the protagonist Nafas, but Salahuddin is a tremendously controversial figure - an American-born Iranian international terrorist responsible for the last known Iranian assassination on US soil, the last person known to have seen presumed-dead FBI agent Robert Levinson, and an FBI fugitive for the better part of half a century. You want a polarizing and fascinating biopic? That's your subject. (3/5) Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/31/21 Full Review Audience Member I heard about this movie thanks to the All-TIME 100 Movies by the TIME. I understand the importance of it and there are some great scenes, but in general, the music and tone of the film was disturbing. It provides you a good insight to understand the general situation in Afghanistan and how restricted the women are. It just is not one of the "All-Time 100 Movies." in my opinion. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Audience Member "Un hermoso viaje a través del infierno"…Entre esa llamativa línea y el hecho de que ya me quedaban pocas películas por ver en el club de video, me llevé a casa esta cinta con expectativas variadas. Nunca me habían descrito mejor una película en tan pocas palabras. Este largometraje iraní ambientado en Afganistán nos lleva a un viaje donde la trama principal se diluye bellamente entre magnificas imágenes que vienen acompañadas de particulares e intensos personajes y sus terribles historias. Un filme tan fuerte como maravilloso, con un final que te dejara con un nudo en la garganta y se quedara tatuado en tu galería de imágenes más extrañamente hermosas. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Kandahar

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Nafas is a young Afghan journalist who has taken refuge in Canada. She receives a desperate letter from her little sister, who has stayed behind in Afghanistan and has decided to end her life before the imminently approaching eclipse of the sun. Nafas fled her country during the Taliban civil war. She decides to go and help her sister in Kandahar and attempts to cross the Iran-Afghanistan border...
Director
Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Screenwriter
Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Production Co
Bac Films, Makhmalbaf Film House
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Persian
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 14, 2001, Wide
Release Date (DVD)
May 1, 2008
Box Office (Gross USA)
$1.4M
Runtime
1h 25m
Sound Mix
Mono
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)