Two-Legged Horse – Asbe du-pa (2008)

Directed by: Samira Makhmalbaf | 97 minutes | drama | Actors: Ziya Mirza Mohamad, Haron Ahad, Gol-Ghotai, Khojeh Nader, Yasin Tavildar

Humans are capable of the most horrific deeds. However, when this is addressed in films, it usually concerns war dramas or characters are maneuvered into constricting positions, so that they can no longer see any other way out. Not so in ‘Two-Legged Horse’, the fourth feature film by the young Iranian director Samira Makhmalbaf. This film exposes the human tendency towards sadism in a way that is unusual in contemporary cinema. You rarely get it served this raw and realistic.

A young disabled boy in Afghanistan is left home alone because his wealthy father has to take his sister to the hospital. The boy is not mobile – he is missing both legs due to an exploded land mine, which further killed his mother. To take him to and from school, among other things, his father hires the strong, but penniless and presumably mildly mentally handicapped Guiah. He is overjoyed with the $1 a day that he receives for his work as a ‘beast of burden’ and is committed to keeping his job, however humiliating it may be. The handicapped boy treats Guiah badly. He constantly calls him ‘horse’ or ‘donkey’, beats him with a twig as if he were a real horse and throws stones at him. However, this seems to stem mainly from jealousy. The boy has no friends and is constantly dependent on others because of his physical disability. Even though his father is still so rich. Poor Guiah, however, has a strong body with especially two well-functioning legs, and the boy constantly looks envious of his slave.

Had this been a conventional Hollywood film, no doubt a bond between master and slave would have naturally grown, with the former recognizing its faults. But the painful thing about this film is that it just doesn’t happen. The boys do begin to grow closer, but the rich man’s son continues to resist his dependence and treats Guiah more and more like a real horse. For example, he has to sleep in the stable and he gets straw to eat. The humiliation and especially the physical torture that Guiah has to endure make ‘Two-Legged Horse’ a tough movie to watch. Moreover, relatively little happens and Makhmalbaf uses an atypical storytelling style. Guiah’s story is criss-crossed with images of a newborn foal, and occasionally scenes are presented as they might play out in Guiah’s head, with him throwing his master away. Ultimately, as a meditation on sadism (but also especially masochism), the film lasts just a little too long.

The story is beautifully portrayed, yes, but despite all the misery it just doesn’t stick enough, because it remains rather rudderless. No answers are given and it remains unclear what exactly is going on in Guiah’s head. He occasionally rebels against his master, but keeps coming back again and again. He doesn’t seem to be doing this for the money, but rather out of a sense of belonging. At the end, however, the idea remains in the air that there is more to do with the unusual relationship between the two boys. But it is certain that the film offers a special experience.