Melissa:

Any film that starts off with a young child not only shooting, but identifying firearms makes me nervous! Or how about a child selling them? Hey, I had a job at 12, but it was selling sodas, sno-cones, and pretzels at the local concession stand and delivering newspapers in my neighborhood. The scariest thing about that was burning yourself with nacho cheese or getting a paper cut!

The story follows a father (Sher Alam Miskeen Ustad)and his eleven year old boy (Niaz Khan Shinwari). Sher Alam is a gun-maker who has his son working for him. He believes that all men should work. Not only that, but he has no one to assist him in his workshop but his son. To him, work is a very respectable chore and his son should take pride in it. Instead, Naiz dreams of going to school. It seems that his dream is pretty unobtainable, but it does not detour his wishes for an education.

The film is shot to center around Naiz. He talks to the elders around him about his desires to go to school, to gain an education. Some of the adults even speak to his father about this, but his father will not listen. He cannot fathom a poor man or child going to school.

Naiz seems to not have friends other than those older than him. While he talks openly to his elders, he does not socialize so well with those his own age. There is a scene by a swimming hole where some boys come and harass him, ask him to swim with them, and then harass him some more. While this is going on Nais says nothing. His silence says enough, that he is not leading what we understand to be a child’s life.

There is some discussion amongst the father and his friends about America and September 11th over tea. While I find this an authentic conversation between friends in a foreign country, I can see where some people might be offended by this debate or subject matter. I’ll be curious to read others reviews about it. To me, it is interesting to see other countries and groups of people discussing America. At one point they make a comment about how America can either make or break you.

The history and culture surrounding their lives play a big part in the movie. There seems to not only be a respect for elders, but Naiz father seems to feel that he is owed respect for fighting with his people and beating the Russians. They are a very proud culture that centers around fulfilling ones life duty and responsibilities.

The director decided to use non-professional actors while filming in Pakistan. I really feel that this payed off because the film has more of an authentic feel! He also was pretty determined from what I understand. Some parts of Pakistan are not exactly welcome to foreigners, yet he continued to travel and film. This also adds to a more realistic air.

This film is a bit rough around the edges, but I feel that keeping it a bit rough just adds character to the story. I think that it is definitely worth checking out, but bring your glasses for the subtitles!

[Overall: 3.25 stars out of 5]