Afghanistan once had a film industry, but those days are long gone. The arrival of “The Black Tulip,” a movie with large sections that were filmed on location in the country, is therefore a hopeful event.
Afghan-American director Sonia Nassery Cole’s film is both strongly pro-American and anti-Taliban. In Kabul, the collapse of the fundamentalist regime encourages the Mansouri family, led by Farishta (Cole) and Hadar (Haji Gul Aser), to open a restaurant called the Poet’s Corner. The couple’s innovations include an open mike where musicians can perform and poets can recite their work.
The still-strong, ever-vicious Taliban can’t let such a place survive, and the Mansouris pay a terrible price for their attempt at encouraging free expression.
So far, so admirable; the scenery and even the actors themselves are all remarkably beautiful. The plot, however, comes with twists you can spot as far off as a Himalayan peak. The dialogue is heavily expository, and the actors are not up to the task of breathing life into characters meant to symbolize the Spirit of the Afghan People or the Nature of Evil.
“The Black Tulip’’ is Afghanistan’s entry for the Foreign Film Oscar, and Cole has said making it was an extraordinary struggle. But laudable democratic values, even courage, can’t take the place of artistic skill. It’s hard not to think that a more vividly original movie might one day be made about the hardship of filming this one.