Girl In The River: The Price Of Forgiveness

A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness
The documentary, A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness (2016), the film’s main character is Saba, who faces the aftermath of an honor killing and throughout the whole film, shows us almost every obstacle that she faces when trying to obtain justice from the actions of her father and uncle who tried to kill her. The film’s unique theme, narrative, and ideology is different the many of the films seen in the class but it also takes from them as well.
The film’s theme is about the societal imbalance between Males and females in Pakistan. The superiority of the males in the society of Pakistan is very apparent and the film shows the horror of what comes with such a male-dominated culture

When the film shows the father behind bars explaining why he shot his daughter, he does so perfectly in a metaphor, “If you put one drop of piss in a gallon of milk, the whole thing gets destroyed.” The metaphor he told tells the viewer how fragile honor and respect is in Pakistan society and how it can completely dictate how your life is in Pakistan. It makes us understand why the father attempt what he did but at the same time, doesn’t justify it by showing him behind

However, while it does push its ideology to the viewer, it doesn’t take away from the feeling the viewer feels for Saba. It does this by relying on the interviews from the family and by figures of authority. It’s narrative structure makes every moment feel more real than relying on a narrator. The interviews are conducted as the case progresses and we can see how the characters feel before and after it closes. It doesn’t have any fancy lighting, the interviews are all mostly in the interviewees natural environment. The film successfully pushes its agenda with the complete feel of humanity when it comes to the victims of the honor killing while showing the criminals behind