Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame

The beauty and grief of present-day Afghanistan receives epic, poetic treatment from Hana Makhmalbaf, the youngest member of director Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s remarkable family. Set in Bamian, the actual town where the Taliban’s destruction of cultural treasures sickened the world, Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame is an exotic and frightening journey into the minds of the children who live in that desolate area—and children affected by violence everywhere.

All Baktay (Nikbakht Noruz) wants to do is go to the school for girls that has opened up across the river. But she must overcome Herculean obstacles to attend, starting with her family’s extreme poverty and her mother’s indifference.

The film feels extremely authentic, largely due to the stripped-down neo-realist style of the Makhmalbaf family’s projects and the fact that they cast local non-professional actors for all the roles. But this is not a documentary. The film sneakily reveals all sorts of narrative surprises and political critiques despite its simple exterior.

The film’s title comes from Hana’s father. According to her, Mohsen meant that “even a statue can be ashamed of witnessing all this violence and harshness happening to these innocent people and, therefore, collapse.” Shots of the looming emptiness in the Bamian cliff faces that once housed these serene Buddhas are indeed among the film’s most devastating moments.