NARRATIVE IN THE CINEMA OF AFGHAN DIRECTOR ATIQ RAHIMI: MOTIFS OF RELIGION AND DEITY IN THE FILMS EARTH AND BULLS AND PATIENCE STONE

Abstract

borders were determined as a country, has been associated with invasions and civil wars due to the importance of its geographical location, and this situation has continued until today. In recent years, despite all kinds of difficult conditions such as pressure and obstacles under the Taliban rule, artists, especially filmmakers, have tried to open a window to the world and their societies from the geography they live in and to make their voices heard all over the world. In this regard, they have given various examples in the name of cinema from time to time. Although cinema in Afghanistan has often suffered serious interruptions or destruction due to administrative changes, it is much more inclined in language and content to the third cinema movement that emerged in the 1960s and can be defined as a cinema of memory. As a counter stance to the scars of the war on the Afghan people and the cultural destruction that was attempted to be created; In his films, Atiq Rahimi, one of the Afghan filmmakers who tries to tell the memory of the truth to the society they live in, to themselves and to the world, regardless of age and gender, especially by looking critically at Islam and the concept of God imposed by the Taliban, which he thinks has destroyed their country and their identity, underlines the belonging to Zoroastrianism, the holy book Avesta and Yazidism, the belief systems of the past, and the mythological heroes in these beliefs, which are also influenced by Iranian culture, in contrast to the concept of God in Islam. Based on the narrative language in Rahimi's films, the study uses a descriptive analysis method in the socio-cultural context, within the framework of social and ideological distinctions. The aim of the study is to examine the way faith, religion, family and gender relations are handled in the social and cultural structure of Afghan cinema. Analyzing the director's 2004 film "Soil and Ashes" and 2012 film "The Stone of Patience", the study reveals a critical approach against the Islamic faith imposed by the state administration and the socio-cultural destruction it tries to create on its own people. The director refutes concepts such as God, goodness, evil, divine justice, happy ending in his films, and does so through the collective and individual memory of faith.