Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Just a note to acknowledge other reviewers' disappointment in the absence of a proper treatment of Persian culture and language in the film. True--but at least there's the architecture, and shadows and blue tiles...Apart from this one 'defect', Die Reise nach Kafiristan is apt and subtle on many counts--period history and politics, womanhood, the lure of travelling, literature, friendship.The photography and the editing are at times masterly and the quotations - though there are one or two by Italo Calvino - would remind anyone with any bit of 'ear' that Annemarie Schwarzenbach was a fine writer.

All the reviews I read before seeing this were maddeningly vague as if the writers were trying desperately not to commit themselves. I can't see their problem, 'Journey to Kafiristan' is an outstanding film with two excellent performances from the leads; the cinematography is jawdroppingly good with the landscapes, interiors and close-ups all adding to the poignancy of the narrative; the music is astonishingly unobtrusive yet contributes to the mood and pace of the film. At the centre there is the performance of Jeanette Hain whose extraordinarily expressive face adds so much to the pathos of the situation. I can only guess that the reason this film did not catapult Ms Hain to international prominence is the 'stigma' of the lesbian character as with Patricia Charbonneau after 'Desert Hearts' or Gina Gershon after 'Bound' and 'Showgirls'. Jeanette Hain should be one of the world's most successful actors and directors should sit up and take note! Commercially the labelling of films seems inevitable as target audiences are identified for marketing purposes; but it can serve to reduce the potential audience. 'Journey to Kafiristan' is billed as a 'Lesbian Interest' film but it is much more, it deals with the rise of feminism in Europe in the inter-war period. Both lead characters have transparently fake marriages for convention's sake and exist outside the norm while still using their married status to protect them in dangerous situations. If you're looking for GIRL-ON-GIRL action you would be better off looking elsewhere for while this is a love story it is cerebral and emotional rather than carnal.I cannot praise 'Journey to Kafiristan' highly enough.

When the movie started and after reading the title, the first thing that I was thinking was: Where could Kafiristan possibly be situated? I really didn't have a clue and I didn't think that it had something to do with the language. I know German and since my own language (Dutch) is very close to it, I was convinced that it wouldn't be a country or a region that we use a completely different name for. But than again, this was only one of the many mysteries about this movie..."Die Reise nach Kafiristan" tells the story of two women who decide to travel together by car to Afghanistan in 1939, but each is in pursuit of their own project. Annemarie Schwarzenbach is an author who wants to find out more about herself and Ella Maillart is a Swiss ethnologist who has traveled the entire world to meet and study new tribes and people. Both women have a completely different nature and there is only one thing that really bonds them: Their eternal restlessness and the urge to leave the world of politics and a possible war behind them. But history keeps catching up and they never really can escape.I'm convinced that many people will not like this movie and if I'm honest, neither did I in the beginning. The reason for that is quite simple. This movie isn't some easy entertainment that offers at least one solution to every question that it asks. No, the makers of the movie have decided to stay very vague by only giving you a hint of what they are trying to say. Dialogs are left uncompleted and sometimes the women don't even speak at all, feelings are never really expressed, but are always present and obvious for the viewer who wants to see them... That's of course not something that you will see in every movie and it sure takes some time to get used to.After a while I really started to like this movie. The landscapes look nice, but they are only there to emphasize the feelings of desolation and complete isolation. In my opinion you have to try to see the beauty of the touching psychological 'landscapes'. It's in their minds that the women go through deep valleys and over high mountain tops as their feelings sometimes clash, but are very parallel at the same time. I know that sounds a bit weird, but that's about the best explanation I can give to it. I guess you just have to watch it for yourself to fully understand what I mean.As a conclusion I would like to say that this is a very nice psychological road movie that will be loved most by an audience who is used to watch 'alternative' cinema. Don't try this movie when you are only used to watch Hollywood blockbusters, because you just will not like it then. Personally I'm quite used to watch this kind of movies and I must say that this is definitely one of the better in the genre. It's too bad that it sometimes was a bit slow, but I still give it a 7.5/10.

I quite liked this movie. From what I read before seeing it, I expected more beautiful scenery. But the Dubinis clearly wanted to show us a psychological journey more than a physical one, so the camera glides over the most picture-perfect hills, ruins etc, only to swiftly return to our actresses. And this, I think, is good: The film could have become a National Geographic style documentary and that would have left the interesting topic of what moves these two very different characters, who are doing something much out of the ordinary in the 1940s.Rather then spell things out for you, the directors choose to hint at feelings, to leave dialogs uncompleted and to move on at the point where you would expect a conclusion to be reached. There are pros and cons to that: There is no preferred interpretation and the actresses can use expressions and body language to suggest much more than could have been put into words (and Jeanette Hain is very good at that). But the film seems to move slowly because nothing unexpected can happen this way and in the end, it all was a bit *too* subtle for me.This said, there are plenty of very moving scenes. Especially the flirtatious side of Annemarie gets well depicted (the dance at the ambassador's house) and at the same time it stays constrained and half-hidden, as you would expect for a woman in that period of time.The real dramatic moment of the film comes near the end, when the women have to part their ways. Even then, things are very quiet and stilted. Is this a flaw of the Dubinis' film or did they want to show an era in which you didn't discuss your most intimate feelings with others? I really do not know the answer, I think the film could have improved from a little more ``say what you mean and say it mean''. But it still ranks as a good 8 on my scale.