Someone once said that ‘weapons have not killed a single being since the start of time. It was always a human, wielding the weapon, that did the killing’. But, a weapon in one’s hand, is a manifestation of power. It gives the wielder the courage to confront any situation and even to take a life if he so desires. The weapon tells the story of a Kurdish mother and her two sons. When the mother loses one son to a fistfight that soon escalates into a shooting incident; she becomes even more protective of her other son. She goes to great lengths to keep him away from trouble and from guns, which she believes are the root cause. But, when an unforeseen event puts his life in danger, the mother takes the extreme step, going against her own rules.
The Weapon is a short by director Sediq Haci Xalid from Iraq. Set against the backdrop of the Kurdish-Turkish conflict, the film tells us about the unpredictability of life and the threats looming over the region. The weapon is a story well told, in all its simplicity. The use of the weapon in question, here an AK-47 assault rifle, as a metaphor for anger and revenge, has been well orchestrated throughout the length of the script.
The Weapon is a lot of food for thought. What drives someone to take up arms. Is it the anger or the hate or is it the feeling of power that a weapon gives, when we are down and helpless? Is it ever a solution for anything?
