ORPHANAGE Film Review — Afghanistan Window

They wear bright white shirts suggesting liberal use of starch and bleach, adorned with crisp red kerchief ties around their collars— the uniform of Soviet Young Pioneers. Still dazed by their first plane ride, they walk down an aisle of their chronological peers who shyly offer them bouquets of flowers. Later, these arrivals from afar will awkwardly dance with their local Russian hosts, and then engage in friendly computer vs. Pioneer chess competitions.

Yet, the older boys rule the orphanage with that Lord of the Flies style sadism that seems to know no borders. A gentle teacher tries to keep life civilized, starting with the morning horn call to rouse the boys awake. This teacher is appreciated by Qodratolah and the other boys, but we cannot help but notice how much this adult is seriously outnumbered.

The camera takes us on one after another slice of a life we otherwise would not know. A Sikh boy regales his buddies on how he brushes and twirls his uncut hair into ritualistic style. Playing cards that show bare-breasted women are hidden contraband under the mattresses of boys whose bodies are newly raging with hormones. Where and how the boys sit in the cafeteria takes up considerable mind space. Mostly though, it seems that life in the orphanage is one ploy after another to avoid the bullies in their midst, and to find fun and adventure beyond the confines of the orphanage’s regimented life.

THE ORPHANAGE is Also About Afghani Politics circa 1989

Outside the orphanage walls the grand events of Afghanistan history in 1989+ are playing out, and we stumble upon these events much like the boys do, as they harvest treasures from a toppled army tank they find at roadside.

It comes as little surprise to learn that The Orphanage is based on a real-world diary. At first you too might find yourself waiting for the story to begin, until long into the film you realize that instead of a narrative arc, we are simply experiencing day-to-day life as Qodratolah does, happily without interference by an adult point-of-view frame. 

Creative Team

Director: Shahrbanoo Sadat
Inspired by Anwar Hashimi’s unpublished diary
Screenwriter: Shahrbanoo Sadat
DOP: Virginie Surdej SBC
Editor: Alexandra Strauss
Sound Design: Sigrid DPA Jensen, Anne Gry Friis Kristensen
Producer: Katja Adomeit
Production: Adomeit Film ApS
Coproduction: Adomeit Film UG, La Fabrica Nocturna Cinéma, Samsa Film, Wolf Pictures Coproducers: Marina Perales Marhuenda, Xavier Rocher, Jani Thiltges, Shahrbanoo Sadat Associate Producers: Tine Mikkelsen, Jon Hammer

Images courtesy of The Orphanage