A Review of Eva Husson's "Girls of the Sun"
It starts off with Mathilde (Emmanuelle Bercot), a French journalist
whose grisly past from her previous war reports left her scarred both mentally
and physically, flying into a remote region of Kurdistan. She meets Bahar
(Golshifteh Farahani) who is the strong-willed leader of the all female
battalion comprised of women that were once ISIS captives.
Mathilde follows the unit as they attempt to take back their village
that is under ISIS control. Through series of flashbacks, the audience gets a
glimpse into Bahar’s past revealing the death of her husband (Adik Bakoni) and
capture of her son (Tornike Alievi), which becomes her main motivating factor
in the recapture of the village.
A new story in film should feel, well, new; however, if one chooses
to dig a little deeper past the film’s exceptional pacing and tension, they
will ultimately be disappointed. While Girls
of the Sun starts off with a great idea of depicting war from a female
point of view, much of what follows feels like numerous other war films with
poor character development and a lacking plot.
The premise of the story will keep the audience hooked for a while,
hoping that the writing improves enough to give the characters more development
than what initially meets the eye. Unfortunately, the main characters remain
two-dimensional for the most part. Both Bahar and Mathilde are hardened
veterans of war that are forced to deal with their extremely difficult pasts.
There is so much more opportunity in terms of characterization to portray them
as beacons of women’s liberation, but Husson only scratches the surface leaving
this topic largely unexplored.
The rest of the characters feel fairly bland and unimportant. At
times, even significant characters like Mathilde are forgettable. Mathilde
could easily be dropped from the film, which would improve the story
considerably. There are two purposes of Mathilde. The first is to initiate the
flashback sequences by forcing Bahar to recall her past, which is unnecessary.
There are numerous other narrative conventions that would achieve the same goal
more efficiently. The second purpose is to act as a shepherd for the audience
guiding them to the ultimate meaning of the film. In the film’s final moments,
Mathilde reads the report she writes as a result of her experiences with
Bahar’s battalion. This is possibly the worst part of the film as it undermines
the audience’s understanding and makes the feminist stance feel heavy-handed.
It’s not the actresses’ fault either; both Emmanuelle Bercot and
Golshifteh Farahani give great performances with the dialogue they had to work
with. Particularly, Farahani stands above the rest to show vulnerability and
power as the film switches back and forth between the past and present. The
emotion of Farahani’s performance helps to carry the film through some of its
more forgettable moments, which keeps the film relatively on course.
The greatest strength of the film is Husson’s ability to constantly
build tension. Despite the slow burn of the film, the pacing is never boring. Intense
action tops off the slower moments to provide the audience with a satisfying pay
off. A quick burst of action has a way of leveling the more dull moments to
create a nice balance. The action sequences, along with the majority of the
film, also look fantastic thanks to the brilliant cinematography of Mattias
Troelstrup.
The flashbacks, while at times feel forced, are also one of the best
aspects of the film. The scenes of the past do a great job of humanizing the female
solders by revealing their struggles. Without this, the women are just warriors
rather than people. It’s their humanity that makes the characters relatable, giving
insight into the lives they once lived as well as providing motivation behind
their actions.
I understand where the film attempts to go. It’s about “Women, Life,
Liberty”, as Mathilde points out in the film’s conclusion; however, just
because a film attempts to promote a feminist stance doesn’t mean it does it
well. Girls of the Sun is an amazingly
powerful story about women fighting against oppression, but it is Husson’s execution
of the film that leaves the narrative feeling flat and the audience wanting
more.
Cast: Golshifteh Farahani,
Emmanuelle Bercot, Adik Bakoni, Tornike Alievi
Director: Eva Husson
Screenwriters: Eva Husson,
Jacques Akchati
Producer: Didar Domehri
Cinematographer: Mattias
Troelstrup
Editor: Emilie Orsini
115 Minutes
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