woman

Iranian cinema is one of those unique pleasures that America has not fully come to appreciate (this could probably be said about all foreign film in America, really) Recently, however, this vibrant community of the arts has broken some geographic boundaries and given us beautiful portraits of a unique, though perhaps unfamiliar, culture. And, indeed, not only is the spoken language very different, but the film language is different, as well. Such recent hits as A Time For Drunken Horses, The Cyclist, Children of Heaven, and Taste of Cherry have won international acclaim and profitable limited releases stateside.

Thanks to the Shooting Gallery Film Series (motto: Surprise Yourself) who twice a year present the best of cinema we never see in 6-film programs, we are now treated to the latest of the gorgeous Iranian films.

The Day I Became A Woman, directed by Marzieh Meshkini, is an auspicious beginning to what I can only assume will be a long and illustrious career as a filmmaker in Iran and abroad. She certainly has learned her skills from the best as the wife of acclaimed Iranian director Moshen Makhmalbaf. In fact, the Makhmalbaf family is Iran's first family of the cinema. The Makhmalbaf Film House being one of the largest and most fruitful of Iran's film schools/production houses with many of its students belonging to the family. Even 9-year old Fatemah Akhar, who stars in the first third of The Day..., has just released a film on the Iranian festival circuit.

The story, as I said, is split into three parts. Each piece is as full if not more surreal than the next, depicting, through age, what it means to be a woman in Iran. Thereby, the thirds are divided into, essentially, childhood, middleage, and old age.

(Excerpted from the Shooting Gallery Website)
Episode 1: "Hava"- On the morning of the day she turns 9, Hava is kept from joining her friends to play outside of the house. She is warned by her mother and grandmother that she has become a woman. Learning that she was born at noon, Hava insists she should be given another hour to go out as a girl one last time.

Episode 2: "Ahoo"- A young woman is competing in a women's biking race on an island as she is persistently pursued by her husband, in-laws, and the elders of her clan. While riding on their horses to catch up with her, they all try to persuade her to return to her family life.

Episode 3: "Houra"- An old lady in a wheelchair lands in an island airport and hires a local young boy to assist her in a shopping spree in search of what she's always needed.

It's amazing how in the absolute simplicity of these short films (they arguably could stand completely on their own, with exception made for the last in which Marzieh tries to tie them all together) a full complex palate of emotions is both experienced and conveyed. In fact, I argue that these small snippets of plot synopsis are doing a great injustice to the messages of each film, and yet at the same time, what is on screen to tell is, in truth, very little. Clearly the difference in film language about which I spoke earlier is made clear here. In the much slower and more thoughtful Iranian cinema (much moreso than in the US) a picture really does speak 1000 words. The look on young Hava's face peering into uncertain womanhood in the first episode, blackrobed women on bicycles racing from barechested men on horseback against the horizon in the second episode, the entire oddity which is the third episode- most strikingly a full house's worth of possessions laid out on the beach as if inside a faux-apartment. Rarely in the cinema has so little gone such a long way.

Now I admit, I am a culturally ignorant American, so I profess to know nothing of Iranian culture or tradition. However, these stories still speak worlds to me. True, the American woman and the Iranian woman have, at this point in time, very different roles in very different communities, but the longing for compassion and understanding in the human condition is universal. That is what this film said to me. The last episode being especially touching, I thought- an old woman wishing to buy all of the empty possessions she was never able to have in her lifetime, all the while having nowhere to put them. Inherently after watching this film, I feel that it must be awful and even suffocating at times to be a woman in Iran. However, I respect the difference between our cultures and find it heartening to see that primarily it is women who took an active part in overseeing this entire production and who clearly do have a public voice/medium through which to convey progressive ideas. Perhaps this sounds a little too ignorant of me to say, but I will not deny in any circumstance that this is a beautiful film, which I am fortunate enough to have seen on the big screen. Something, too, tells me videocassette (or even DVD) will not be able to properly capture the sweeping vistas and unique visions of Marzieh and her protagonists as they appear on the big screen.

Note: (perhaps this goes without saying) this is not an American film. There is a heavy reliance on visual metaphor and symbolism. It is paced deliberately. And- godforbid(!) there are subtitles. In other words, you may have to reach a little to fully take in this experience, it is not spelled out, there is no frenetic soundtrack to move the story along. However, if you enjoy foreign film, if this speaks to you as a woman, person, or moviegoer or if you're just in the mood for something refreshing and different, let me tell you: see this movie. There is not a single wasted moment in the entire picture. And, unlike so many movies that hold you by the hand for an hour and a half- forgotten even faster- it is not one that you will easily let go of in your mind. Before the cultural denizens of the world deem Iran too-whatever to be a rich cultural hub anymore, treat yourself to this pinnacle of film excellence from a great new (female) talent. And don't forget to support organizations like The Shooting Gallery Films Series that allow you and me to enjoy these films, too-often shut out by ethnocentric borders.
By Dan

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