Movie No. 40 (2016): DIFRET
Difret (2015)
Director: Zeresenay Berhane Mehari
Cast: Tizita Hagere, Meron Getnet
In Amharic, with English subtitles
Gripping and entertaining, the movie is an insightful examination of an oppressive tradition and its obsolescence. In the movie, a fifth-grade,14-year-old girl (Hirut) in a rural village in Ethiopia is on trial for defending herself against her abductor who beat and raped her. According to the village's tradition, a man can abduct the girl he wants to marry. With the help of the man's would-be best men, Hirut gets abducted while on her way home from school, gets beaten and raped by the man who wants to marry her, but gets a chance to escape with the man's rifle. The men run after her but she kills her abductor. Now the village people want her dead because that's according to tradition. The police places her in custody. The village court decides that Hirut be banished from the village instead of death sentence.
Director: Zeresenay Berhane Mehari
Cast: Tizita Hagere, Meron Getnet
In Amharic, with English subtitles
Gripping and entertaining, the movie is an insightful examination of an oppressive tradition and its obsolescence. In the movie, a fifth-grade,14-year-old girl (Hirut) in a rural village in Ethiopia is on trial for defending herself against her abductor who beat and raped her. According to the village's tradition, a man can abduct the girl he wants to marry. With the help of the man's would-be best men, Hirut gets abducted while on her way home from school, gets beaten and raped by the man who wants to marry her, but gets a chance to escape with the man's rifle. The men run after her but she kills her abductor. Now the village people want her dead because that's according to tradition. The police places her in custody. The village court decides that Hirut be banished from the village instead of death sentence.
Then a lawyer (Meaza) who works for a non-government organization that champions against women and child violence comes to Hirut's rescue. Meaza knows that she is battling against tradition and oppressive justice system. The centerpiece of the movie is the unfolding of a narrative that is like a court procedural. There is never a lull moment in the movie. From start to finish, the movie is stirring.
Rating: 4.0/4.0
Date seen: July 17, 2016
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