The Boy Who Plays on the Buddhas of Bamiyan (2004)

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General		Extras
Category	Documentary	Main Menu Audio Additional Footage-Selected Clips Interviews-Crew-Phil Grabsky (Director) Notes-Background Information On The Buddhas Of Bamiyan Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	2004
Running Time	95:03
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Phil Grabsky Amanda Wilkie Dimitri Tchamouroff Phil Grabsky
Studio Distributor	Gil Scrine Films Madman Entertainment	Starring	None Given
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$29.95	Music	Dimitri Tchamouroff

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	Dari Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     The Bamiyan Valley is situated some two hundred and thirty kilometres northwest of Kabul, in central Afghanistan. Nearly two thousand years ago the area was a major trading post on the Silk Road and became a significant region for Buddhist monks and monasteries.

    The massive sandstone cliffs surrounding the valley were home to the largest standing Buddha statues found anywhere in the world. Two of these statues measuring fifty-five and thirty eight metres respectively were built into the cliff faces possibly during the fifth or sixth centuries. These majestic examples of Greco-Buddhist art have been cultural landmarks for centuries, attracting hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to the region.

    The Buddhas Of Bamiyan survived centuries of war and conflict, including the invasion of the valley by Genghis Khan in 1222. However, they could not survive the reign of the Taliban regime, who declared the statues idolatrous and ordered their destruction by use of dynamite and tank barrages. In early 2001 the two large Buddhas were destroyed, with only small remnants remaining to remind us of their past existence. Despite these monuments being world heritage listed and their religious significance to millions of people, the statues now lay as rubble.

    Scattered around the statue area are dozens of caves, all as old as the statues themselves. These caves were carved out of the cliff face and were used to accommodate the monks, living their meek existence close to the Buddhas. Today, many of these caves are home to Afghan refugee families, trying to build a prosperous life after the fall of the Taliban government.

    Director Phil Grabsky documented twelve months in the lives of one such family, in particular a fun-loving eight year old boy, Mir Hussain. Mir and his family live in the harsh conditions of the caves and dream of a better life in a new housing estate being built in the region.

    The Boy Who Plays On The Buddhas Of Bamiyan is set in three parts; summer, winter and spring. The film opens in summer, with Mir giving us a guided tour of the ruins of the destroyed Buddhas. He then shows us his family's home. We see the poor conditions of the cave, the constant dust, the lack of clean water and their struggle to obtain decent food.

    Mir's father, Abdul, is a man in his late sixties. He has suffered many losses in his life, including the deaths of two wives and a child. He has survived a broken back, which he proudly shows proof of to the camera. It is fascinating to hear Abdul's account of his physical and mental suffering, as well as his explanation of the family members around him. Abdul's hope of a normal life for his family in the housing estate seems to be his priority.

    Mir's mother, Mirwari, is first seen very sick and asleep on the hard stone floor of the cave. She looks many years older than her actual age - the torment of years of war have taken their toll on her mind and body.

    We are introduced to other family members and neighbours, all with their own unique stories and individual hopes for the future. It's inspiring to see the high level of fun displayed by Mir and his friends as they play basic child games, such as jacks. The only care they have in the world seems to be the occasional disciplining they receive for rough play.

    Totally oblivious to the pain suffered by his elders, Mir's cheeky and mischievous grin symbolizes hope for a new generation in a country haunted by its turbulent past.

Video

    The video transfer for this documentary is outstanding.

    The film is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

    The transfer displayed an excellent level of sharpness and clarity throughout. Blacks were generally clean and bold, with no evidence of low-level noise. The occasional dark scene exhibited some grain, but on the whole, I didn't regard this as particularly problematic. Shadows were also excellent and held a high level of detail.

    Colours were beautifully balanced and appeared totally natural.

    I found no MPEG artefacts in this transfer. Film-to-video artefacts were very well controlled, with nothing of any great significance to report. Film artefacts were also absent from this transfer.

    Subtitles are available in English. These are easy to read in a vibrant white.

     This is a single sided, dual layered disc. I could not locate the layer change, either while viewing the disc, or using software.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio transfer is also excellent, with no obvious flaws.

    There is one audio track available on the DVD; Dari Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) surround encoded audio.

    As I have no comprehension of the Dari language spoken in the film, I cannot realistically comment on the dialogue quality. However, it certainly appears to be crystal clear, with audio sync very accurate.

    The original music score by Dimitri Tchamouroff is very traditional and adds perfect atmosphere to some of the majestic images on the screen.

    The surround encoded audio track is subtle enough not to overpower the vision, but still be extremely effective. A crackling fire early in the film sounds brilliant as it surrounds the viewer. Likewise, music, the occasional chopper flying over and thunder worked the surrounds nicely.

    The subwoofer was used on a minimal scale, highlighting elements of the music and occasional direct sound.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    The reasonable selection of extras are offered, although one of them seems a little wasted.

Menu

    The main menu is static, features a looped sample of music and is 16x9 enhanced.

Selected Clips (25:18)

    I'm not really sure of the relevance of this extra. It appears to be a selection of scenes from the film, edited to form a twenty five minute version of the film. I could not find any new footage amongst these scenes.

Interview with director, Phil Grabsky (22:19)

    This interview offers some excellent insight into the making of the documentary. Phil discusses many interesting aspects of the documentary, including the concept, dealing with the people and the culture and his hopes for a continuation of the story in the coming years. Worthy viewing.

Background information on the Buddhas of Bamiyan.

    Spread over five static and silent pages, this text based extra offers additional information about the Buddha statues.

Theatrical Trailer (1:46)

    The Boy Who Plays On The Buddhas Of Bamiyan.

    At the time of this review there is no R1 version of The Boy Who Plays On The Buddhas Of Bamiyan.

    The Boy Who Plays On The Buddhas Of Bamiyan is an absorbing documentary that points to an element of hope for the troubled country of Afghanistan. The harsh and ruthless beauty of the landscape contrasts well with the triumph of the human spirit over the many years of suffering.

    The video and audio transfers are both excellent.

    The selection of extras on offer are reasonable.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall