Attempting to capture the brutal and inhumane killings of women occurring throughout the Kurdistan region in northern Iraq, director Mary Ann Smothers Bruni focuses in on the reasons behind them in her debut film, Quest for Honor. Sadly, the numerous questions are never answered and the film never shows a concluding story, leaving audiences in a state of uncertainty as the final credits begin to role.
While I respect Bruni's efforts to bring the lives of fear and uncertainty that rests within the Kurd women of Iraq to the big screen, I am appalled at how it was done. Never centering on one incident or one major case, Bruni's debut film is all over the place, confusing the audience and creating little passion for those whose lives are in jeopardy.
The interviews, conducted with a grand total of three people, give little headway into the problems with the Kurd men and their established society. The progression, mute from start to finish, leaves everyone unsure of the problem's main force. Is it the men? It is the women who sit by and allow their daughters and sisters and mothers to be treated so poorly? Or is it the government, run by men, who don't investigate the thousands of missing cases that arise each year? We don't know, and director Bruni never gives us the necessary information to come to our own conclusion.
Instead, all we get is a handful of random data, scattered throughout the 60 minute feature, that will generate more questions than actual answers. There is no direction and no true focus to the story at hand; thus leaving many in a state of agony as the film drags on without a dire sense of restraint. A disappointing start to what will hopefully be a short lived film career by famed photographer Bruni.
