Lawyer-turned-freedom fighter Bahar (Golshifteh Farahani) prepares to liberate her Kurdistan village and free her son taken hostage by extremists. French journalist Mathilde (Emmanuelle Bercot), herself traumatised by the recent death of her husband in Libya, arrives to cover the story of Bahar and her Kurdish army known as ‘Girls of the Sun’. During her time spent embedded within the ranks of this all-female unit of former ISIS captives, Mathilde faces her own inner demons and finds strength through adversity.
Girls of the Sun is a fictional French film that is based on the true story of an all-female Kurdish combat unit. With the political and religious temperament of the world these days, it is definitely important to remind everyone that not every Muslim is a terrorist. In this case, the audience gets to follow a group of Muslim's that have volunteered to fight on the frontlines to take down the ISIS threat.
The film is, unfortunately, rather inconsistent. The most damaging aspect to the credibility of the film coming from the poor pacing. It has a 115-minute runtime and for the first two acts, you are very aware of that time passing. Using a non-linear narrative the film gradually introduces the backstory to our most intriguing character, Bahar (portrayed by Golshifteh Farahani), until at the end of the second act, the direction of the film is finally revealed. With a few unnecessary filler scenes and frequent flashbacks that stall any narrative movement in the present-day timeline, Girls of the Sun is as slow as a slow-burn film can be.
With two main protagonists, the film battles within itself trying to balance the two conflicting tones; the revenge fantasy and the pacifist's pursuit of truth. Emmanuelle Bercot's role as Mathilde, the war-time reporter (whose backstory was inspired by real-life journalist Marie Colvin), is useful in gaining exposition, but comes off incredibly inauthentic, with a complete lack of character development (having an eye patch and a family is not enough). Golshifteh Farahani, on the other hand, was brilliant at portraying the tortured soul that has lost so much but still has the drive and fire to try and fight to protect others from her going through what she did. She has an amazing emotive performance and a gaze that will catch your eye from a mile away. Unfortunately, her dialogue (and her rather clichéd motivational speech) could have been better written.
The film's lack of focus in narrative and tone is also exacerbated by an incredibly powerful score. Iy makes each scene feel like it is building towards something big, but again that pacing doesn't quite get us there, and it leaves you feeling a sense of disappointment at the anticlimax. Because this isn't really an action movie--despite it taking place entirely within a war zone--it is a dark, emotional, melodrama. The music is exciting but more suited for the new Top Gun sequel.
There is definitely a story to be told, but a linear narrative would have brought on a much stronger emotional connection right from the start, and proving a better evolution of Bahar's character as she goes through some incredibly traumatic experiences. There is a lot of powerful imagery and a lot of dark, and uncomfortable subject matter that a lot of people turn a blind eye to. It deserves much more than a quick pan-over in a flashback. It's inconsistent, but it still has an intriguing story to tell if you have the patience to wait for it.
Girls of the Sun is in selected cinemas from Thursday 12th of September 2019