When her father is arrested by the Taliban, a young girl must pose as a boy in order to provide food for her mother, sister, and baby brother, who all share a two-room space in Kabul. This simple, sorrowful story, drawn from Deborah Ellis’ children’s novel, unfolds with an animated artistry that is nothing short of majestic. Director Nora Twomey was co-director of The Secret of Kells, and some of the most striking images here echo that film’s geometric design scheme, where shapes interact in interlocking patterns. Yet when Parvana, the girl, tells her brother a story about a boy facing an elephant monster, Twomey gives us something new altogether: paper-cut designs that have a three-dimensional presence and hand-crafted glow. In the finale, as Parvana treks to her father’s prison just as war breaks out, this more fanciful imagery alternates with the starker, though no less captivating, landscapes surrounding Kabul. Like Grave of the Fireflies, The Breadwinner uses animation to capture the horror of children living under strife in a way that is true to their struggle, while also honoring their imaginative resilience.
