I saw a movie on cable the other day called "The Beast", which I think is an Israeli production. It's set in southern Afghanistan in 1981, during the Soviet war. A Soviet tank roll into an Afghan village in search of mujahiddin rebels. Villagers are massacred and the town is burnt. The surviving villagers vow vengeance and track the tank and its crew through the southern deserts of Afghanistan.
I had very low expectation about the movie but it turned out to be quite good.
First, the language. The Russians are shown speaking English, with the absolutely fantastic George Dzundza playing the tank commander. (He's still thin at this time.) The actor who starred in Speed 2 plays the soldier who questions the purpose of the war and eventually joins the Afghans.
All the Afghans are played by Israelis, but their dialogue is entirely in Pashto! Their accent is a bit funny, but they speak bona fide Pashto. At least half the dialogue of the movie is in Pashto. I was amazed.
Apparently the movie was originally based on a play called Nanawatai, which is the Pashto word for 'sanctuary' or 'mercy'. Nanawatai is what the defector character pleads with the Afghans when they find him deserted by the tank crew.
