FILM - Zanan bedoone mardan (Women Without Men), DIRECTOR - Shirin Neshat,
COUNTRY - Iran, SECTION - In Competition
Why I wanted to see it? - Iranian films invariably interest me and this had an interesting backdrop.
Impressions :
Set against the backdrop of the UK/US-backed 1953 Iranian coup (in which the democratically elected government was overthrown and a western-friendly dictatorship inserted in its place), visual artist Shirin Neshat's debut feature length film based on the novella of the same name (which is banned in Iran) is a bold, unflinching statement.
The stories follow a group of women who, amidst these powder-keg moments of history, find themselves intertwined. Orsolya Tóth is a malnourished prostitute at the end of her rope, Arita Shahrzad a wealthy woman unhappily married to an officer in the army, and there are a couple of friends, one who commits suicide (then comes back to life) due to her overbearing brother and her virginal friend who is in love with the brother.
This film is so artfully made, the images are emotionally arresting and beautifully constructed. Given the nature of the plot it is very metaphorical (especially the woman committing suicide then coming back), but also as such it is occasionally a bit weird. The characters meet at an idyllic orchard far away from the mess of what's going on with the impending coup after the prostitute has had enough, the wife leaves her husband (and buys the orchard) and the friend is raped and flees in shame (the suicide girl gets involved in the communist opposition to the coup, after leading her friend to the orchard). These are things which are changed from the source material, the basic characters are the same but what happens to them has been tinkered with - sometimes it works better and sometimes it doesn't.
Given how gorgeous this film is aesthetically, it's a bonus that Neshat uses the power of the images to supplement the point that she's making and insert an inherent pathos into the film. She says the film is for the victims of all the turbulent back-and-forth power struggles in Iran over the last century and that provokes some very interesting metaphorical readings of the characters and also shows how no matter whether the end result is "good" or "bad" or neither, innocents get hurt in the upheaval. So a very well acted, interesting film, which is lovely to look at and makes you think even when it seems a bit out there, as even that is for a reason.
Number of Miles worth travelling to see : 250 (1432 cumulative).
FILM - Wahed-Sefr (One-Zero), DIRECTOR - Abou Zekri Kamia,
COUNTRY - Iran, SECTION - In Competition
Why I wanted to see it? - It sounded as if it should be quite watchable.
Impressions :
One-Zero is a very accessible film to a western audience. Built around the lives of various characters on the day of the final of the 2008 African Cup of Nations it has the feel of those intertwined ensemble pieces which have been a staple of American independent cinema over the last decade or two.
Niveen is a divorcee in her 40s who wants to remarry a talk show host called Sherif, but legally she can't as she asked for the divorce. A hairdresser called Adel lives with his mother and has recently broken up with Nina, who is the latest talentless hottie to become a popstar, much to the chagrin of her conservative sister. All the characters mesh together, but in a way which is almost exactly in the middle between a Paul Thomas Anderson and a Paul Haggis-type of approach.
For the most part this is a very nice little film, there are moments about halfway through where it descends into "people shouting = drama" and it's quite overcooked. That said though it thankfully doesn't last and gets back on track. The ensemble all acquit themselves nicely, with Nelly Karim as the religious nurse being the pick of the bunch. By the time the stories come to their conclusion it makes for a satisfying conclusion. Knowing the result of the final doesn't impact on the film's basic ability to work dramatically and it ensures the end is simultaneously tied up and left sufficiently open as whatever happened that night isn't going to change because of a football match, but it does show how something as simple as that can bring a nation together.
Number of Miles worth travelling to see : 65 (1497 cumulative).
I'll do the last day (which only had one film), and give my awards for what I saw coupled with seeing if I got up to the magic 1,610 miles to have made the return trip worth it at some point later today.