Film: Kabul
Cast: Shervin Alenabi, Jonathan Zaccaï, Thibault Evrard,
Vassilis Kukalani, Jeanne Goursaud, Gianmarco Saurino,
Valentina Cervi, Eric Dane
Directors: Kasia Adamik, Olga Chajdas
Rating: 3 stars
Runtime: 6 eps/50 -55 min per eps
Kabul is a French six-part English-language geo-political thriller series set against the backdrop of American troops leaving Afghanistan. The screenplay by Olivier Demangel, Thomas Finkielkraut, Joe Lavy realistically portrays the aftereffects of the sudden American withdrawal from Afghanistan. The miniseries begins on 15 August 2021, as the Taliban begins to regain control of Kabul.
Once the Americans and their NATO allies leave, the Taliban regains control. Kabul follows the Nazany family as they grapple with the rapidly shifting sands of contemporary history. Zahara (Darina Al Joundi), a prosecutor investigating Taliban members for terrorism, becomes their target. She has been placed on the Taliban kill list. Amidst rising tensions and as the regime begins reclaiming territory Zahara and her husband Baqir (Vassilis Koukalani), head to the French embassy in the hope of being evacuated. Their daughter Amina (Hannah Abdoh), a young medic who has just completed her first transplant, decides to stay back and son Fazal (Shervin Alenabi), a former security checkpoint commander, is commanded to join the enemy ranks.
There’s turmoil around the entire move. The rapidly collapsing political order is cause for worry. The locals fearing backlash and victimization, look to the foreign embassies for help. French police officers, US intelligence agents, Italian diplomats and German soldiers, coordinate evacuation efforts from embassies and the airport. The conditions get worse as the Taliban begins spreading its control over the entire country.
The multi-segmented story gathers pace and rhythm as the threat to the Navazny family and the soldiers on the ground escalates. Embassy and military personnel have the onus of dealing with operational issues as well as responding to Taliban advances and anticipating potential attacks from Daesh.
The personal disorientation, gendered constraints and social turbulence brought on by regime change are deeply felt here. The crisis has international implications. The narrative, through its character-driven len,s scores with its intersecting timelines, keeping the pressure and tension acute while the situation becomes more volatile. The direction is crisp and consistent in presenting the trauma within its diverging and converging plot lines. This story engages because of the political, espionage and action-thriller elements inherent in the real-politic of chaos that this series is talking about. Kabul is progressively engaging and keeps you entrenched in the drama of a family under severe pressure from oppressive forces.
