ABSTRACT
In the combat zones of Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, the bodies of men, women, children, even fetuses have been physically transformed through the ravages of violence. Amputees, physically and psychologically wounded individuals, and people suffering from communicable diseases are numerous. The 2001 film Kandahar, by Iranian film director Mohsen Makhmalbaf, artfully conveyed the quiet dependence of male Afghan amputees on prosthetic limbs, depicting the extent to which colonial and postcolonial conflicts have distorted individual lives and bodies. In a scene set at a makeshift Red Cross desert camp, two female Russian aid workers notice that several Afghan men with amputed legs awaiting treatment have taken up their crutches and started walking away from camp. Calling out to them, the women ask where they are going but receive no answer. The director changes the camera angle so we can see what the men see: Prosthetic legs being airdropped by parachute to the camp. The men’s faces register expectation, hope, relief, and determination: To acquire a long-awaited prosthesis.
