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Mideast meets Midwest in 'The Beauty Academy of Kabul'

Is the blow-dryer mightier than the sword?

In the oddball documentary "The Beauty Academy of Kabul," it might well be.

Shadow Distribution 'The Beauty Academy of Kabul' B- The verdict: Slight, but incredibly interesting. Director: Liz Mermin Starring: Mary MacMakin, Terri Grauel, Patricia O'Connor Run time: 74 minutes Release date: March 24, 2006 Rating: Not rated; contains references to war violence and images of guns. On the web Official movie site Rate 'The Beauty Academy of Kabul'   Go see it   Make it a matinee   Wait to rent   Don't bother Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

Shot in 2003 after the Taliban had left, the movie chronicles the efforts of some women from America — a couple of them born in Afghanistan and returning after decades — to open a beauty school in a country where, until recently, a woman could be beaten for exposing an inch of skin on her arm or leg. No telling what the punishment for mascara might've been.

The visitors from the West aren't in Kabul just to dispense beauty tips. They're on a mission to give Afghan women a chance at economic freedom. Sort of, give a woman a perm and she'll look fabulous for a month. Teach her to give a perm and she can support herself for life.

"Beauty Academy" is startling in a number of ways. First, there's Kabul itself, where bombed-out ruins make the post-Katrina New Orleans look like a model city out of Epcot. Second, the Taliban's departure hasn't completely changed the balance of power between the genders.

Strangest of all, perhaps, is the archival footage of Afghanistan in the '70s. The women are smartly dressed in Western garb and out on their own, smoking a cigarette, having lunch or enjoying a fashion show. That these people were reduced to movable mounds of material in their head-to-toe burqas, forbidden to have a career, go to school or even go outside without a male relative, is an eye-opener.

"The sacrificed generation" is what one of the teachers calls her pupils, and her determination (along with her colleagues) to give these women a chance at a better life is admirable. It's also, at times, quite funny. The newcomers approach their task with the brisk, can-do optimism of a flotilla of Mary Poppinses. It's women's liberation through the right lipstick color and a good cut.

They fail to see the ironic disparity between the snub-nosed, mostly blond-haired mannequin heads they give their students to work with and the way women actually look in Kabul. And when a hearty Indiana native drives through town — probably the first female to do so in a decade or more — she's not only oblivious to the stares she gets, but yells out the window, "Ladies, lose the burqas and get a car!"

Yes, (Mid)west is (Mid)west and (Mid)east is (Mid)east, but the twain do meet — sort of — in this fascinating, unassuming little film. "Beauty Academy" can be scattered — sometimes we're not sure who is who or whose voice we're hearing. And for all the film's good intentions, we never really get inside the Afghan women's heads, though it's impossible not to be impressed by their smiles and upbeat attitudes.

At times, the movie verges on a mockumentary of white-glove do-gooding. But these women's hearts are in the right place and so is the movie's. Rebuilding a nation one curling iron at a time may not be everyone's idea of how to solve the Middle East's problems, but it's a start.