The Breadwinner by Michael Lee

Movie

patelee111 — 2024-07-08 05:57:51 UTC

The movie I'm doing my Padlet on is an animated drama film by the name of 'The Breadwinner'.

Plot Synopsis

patelee111 — 2024-07-08 06:02:04 UTC

The film is an adaption of the book of the same name by Deborah Ellis which deals with the story of Parvana who lives in Afghanistan under the rule of the Taliban during the start of the war on terror. She assists her father who is a school teacher turned vendor after he lost his leg during the Soviet Afghanistan war until he is arrested by the Taliban. Since he was the only of age man in the household she is forced to disguise herself as a boy to provide for her family.

Production

patelee111 — 2024-07-08 06:09:36 UTC

The film was made by Irish animation studio 'Cartoon Saloon' but the production of the movie was an international collaboration mainly from Canada, The Republic of Ireland, and Luxembourg.

Similarities

patelee111 — 2024-07-08 06:14:18 UTC

Some of you might recognize the art style. The reason for this is because the studio is also responsible for making the 2020 animated film 'The Wolfwalkers'.

Source Material

patelee111 — 2024-07-08 06:18:24 UTC

I unfortunately have not read the book the movie is based on so i will take a bit from the Wikipedia article about the book

"For her research, the author spent several months interviewing women and girls in refugee camps in Pakistan, and used these interviews as the basis of her depiction of life in Afghanistan.^[3] The book has received several literary awards, including the Peter Pan Prize and the Middle East Book Award in 2002.^[4] The novel was followed by four sequels, Parvana's Journey in 2002, Mud City in 2003, My Name is Parvana in 2012 and One More Mountain in 2022."

How I discovered it.

patelee111 — 2024-07-08 06:31:36 UTC

I discovered this film from a TikTok video reclipping one of the scenes.

What I like

patelee111 — 2024-07-08 12:08:55 UTC

The thing that I really like about the film it is that the story is told from the perspective of someone who actually lives in Afghanistan. Usually stories about Afghanistan are told from the perspective of American soldiers so it's refreshing to see a story that's not told from that perspective.

Art Style

patelee111 — 2024-07-08 12:12:40 UTC

The art style is one of the key selling points of the movie with it being evocative of a storybook which further stresses the theme of childhood innocence.

Themes

patelee111 — 2024-07-08 12:19:33 UTC

There are many themes which are presented in the movie but the main ones are women's oppression, the importance of education, the tyranny of religious fanaticism, the importance of family and the history of Afghanistan.

Themes

patelee111 — 2024-07-08 18:09:51 UTC

One of the more obvious themes of the movie is the oppression of women. Parvana due to the restricted policies of the Taliban when it comes is forced to disguise herself as a boy in order to provide for her family.

Themes

patelee111 — 2024-07-08 18:19:51 UTC

Another important theme is this film is the importance of education with Parvana's father being a former school teacher turned vendor. Before he is arrested he often tells Parvana that he would prefer his daughter pursue her education and tell stories rather than worry about providing for the family.

Themes

patelee111 — 2024-07-08 18:35:24 UTC

The theme of religious tyranny is also an important part of the movie with the Taliban soldiers portrayed as being cruel, heartless, fickle, and close minded. Furthermore the rules they enforce are portrayed as being restrictive and domineering.

Themes

patelee111 — 2024-07-08 18:47:22 UTC

But I think the most important theme of the movie is Afghani history. The film is essentially one big homage to the history of Afghanistan. In the beginning of the film Parvana's father tells her about the history of Afghanistan and how many times rulers have attempted to conquer the country. To me the father is trying to tell Parvana that the current turmoil in there country is just one chaotic period of many that the country has dealt with.

Side Plot

patelee111 — 2024-07-08 19:13:57 UTC

One thing that i haven't mentioned yet is the story that Parvana tells throughout the film. Her father loves telling stories and often encourages her to tell her own.

Side Plot

patelee111 — 2024-07-08 19:15:17 UTC

The story is about a boy whose village gets ransacked by the elephant king and his minions and his subsequent journey to bring back food for them.

Side Plot

patelee111 — 2024-07-08 19:30:24 UTC

I'm still not exactly sure what the main theme of Parvana's story is or how it relates to the other themes and ideas of the movie but I believe that the main idea of it is it reflects Parvana's journey of trying to find her father but also her resistance to Taliban rule.

Why I did it on this one

patelee111 — 2024-07-08 19:35:23 UTC

The reason I wanted to do my canvas on this movie is because it isn't given as much recognition as it deserves so I want more people to know about it.

Stories

patelee111 — 2024-07-08 19:37:06 UTC

As I mentioned previously I like that this story is told from the perspective of someone who actually lives under the Taliban and I feel like there should be more stories which look at oppression from the perspective of the oppressed.

Ending

patelee111 — 2024-07-08 19:39:29 UTC

To finish off this I'd like to post a clip of the ending of the film which is in my opinion the best part.

Learning From my Peers

patelee111 — 2024-07-08 19:50:54 UTC

We both did our Padlet on an animated film which is an adaption of a book.

Learning from my peers

patelee111 — 2024-07-08 19:53:25 UTC

Nick mentioned remembering your roots which doesn't exactly tie back into themes of family as it relates to the Breadwinner but in a way it does.