Studio(s): Aircraft Pictures, Melusine Productions, Cartoon Saloon
Watched viewing on 16/04/20
***SPOILERS***
Straight up, I didn't like The Breadwinner.
Just felt like a typical western feminist trying to show the world how bad and backwards other parts of the world are. The important thing is that (apparently) Afghan people really liked the film, so it's not really for me to say. But at the end of the day, I didn't enjoy the film all that much and this blog is just my personal thoughts.
I didn't like that the film was in English with VAs who, to me, sounded like English was their first language. It sounded like they even tried to sound more Afghan, which was just a bit odd. Also the film doesn't make it clear enough what year the story is set in and what the situation in Afghanistan is at the time (the very vague 'Hindu Kush mountains' description just isn't sufficient). I feel like this means it does more harm than good; it tells selective truths (whole truths, don't get it twisted) but could be interpreted as suggesting that Kabul in 2017 is what you're seeing in the film. It isn't. You're seeing Kabul from 20 years ago, under Taliban rule.
The story was quite bland. I totally appreciate that it's probably largely true but this doesn't make it entertaining to viewers like me (again, it's not for us anyway). There's little impact/consequence for actions by characters. There was no moment of true gratification for Parwana when she becomes the breadwinner. Ultimately, our quite likeable main character is even a bit of a passenger to the end goal of the film. Also they made a pretty big deal about the witch's 3 items, of which the boy in the story only ever gets 2. I also just have a problem with people telling other people's stories for them.
The film got lots of praise for its 'attention to detail', but I caught a few things I thought it got wrong: not saying Bismillah before eating, reading from left to right and speaking while praying. My knowledge of Islam and Arabic (on which Pashto and Dari are based) is obviously only surface-level but these didn't seem right to me.
The art style was actually really nice, but the animation was a bit disappointing in places. A lot of CG vehicles. The storytelling was nice but not anything revolutionary. And the characters were far too simple (maybe except for the mother).