White sands, Black veils

The Middle East is region that I am not familiar with. It is disappointing to say that I still need a map to locate countries within the region. Since the film is based in Iranian culture, I would like to give a brief description about the country. 

(https://www.cia.gov/library/publications)

 Geography 

According to Travel.State.Gov website, Iran is a “constitutional Islamic republic with a theocratic system of government.” In case you didn’t know, Shia Islam is their official religion. Hence, “Islamic republic” part means that the Islamic law does influence the authority and government, which makes the government theocracy. I looked up the definition for theocratic government and it is a form of government “in which God or a deity is recognized as the supreme civil ruler and their laws are interpreted by the authorities” of the country (dictionary.reference).  Now that we know religion plays a big role in the government, it also plays in gender role and traditions. 

Traditions

Gender roles are very prominent in the Middle Eastern region especially where religion is a big part of their culture. I can only understand it as an outsider because I do not practice their traditions and religion, so the information I have is solely base on websites, films and books like a A Thousand Splendid Suns. Men usually work in the public sphere, where women work in the private sphere like homemaker. Women usually use chador, which is a black transparent veil to go in public or around men, they are not related to. Religion is used to reinforce gender roles to the community. I am not an expert on the subject but through other sources, I learned new culture. 

My Pick

I had three Iranian films to select from and I picked Marzieh Makhmalbaf’s The Day I Became a Woman (2000). The title of the film grasped my attention because I am “woman,” so my curiosity got the best of me and I watched it. I will just give you a skeleton synopsis of the film to get your curiosity going. The film focused on three individuals on one day, each individual having her own story of becoming a woman.

My Review

Since I am just starting to learn film techniques and so on, I will just discuss what stood out to me. The film was released in 2000, so I understand the quality of the film is not the best. However, it seems like the grainy look was on purpose. Something that I do know is that nothing is an accident when it comes to film. So maybe the grainy look was to connect the audience to the culture because in reality life is simple and rough sometimes. Another thing I noticed the editing style. I am still learning technical terms, so do not mind me if I used Basic English to describe style. To me, the editing was very noticeable. It would also switch from a long scene to shorter and faster paced scene. I can definitely tell when I should feel worry or innocence because of the camera position on the characters. Overall, film is basic but the message it portrays is strong. I enjoyed it a lot to see other women in different culture but still having the same drive like a woman like me.

Here are other reviews:

Rotten Tomatoes

EW

A Separation

Synopsis

A married couple struggled to keep their marriage intact because of difficult decisions – to either move to another country to improve their daughter life or to stay in Iran and take care of the husband’s father who suffers of Alzheimer’s disease. 

 Types of Separation

As human, we sometimes forget that we all have some things in common with each other. Struggles, Illness or diseases and death have no boundaries or walls to stop them for happening. In this film, it deals with all three and culture does influence some decisions but not all of them.  I would like to touch on one issue the film portrayed, which is the Alzheimer’s disease.  

From blogs.smithsonianmag.com

I worked in a nursing home for six years and interacted with many seniors with different reasons for their residency. The Alzheimer unit is the saddest one to work in. In case you do not know what Alzheimer is, I will share what PubMed Health website state. “Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one form of dementia that gradually gets worse over time. It affects memory, thinking, and behavior.”  You see, I work in the kitchen and it is like the lunch-lady set up but then I go out in the dining room to clean up and have a chance to interact with the residents. Some are mentally separate by time, memories or motor skills. It is something easy to deal for the nurses and families.

My Review

Director Asghar Farhadi did an incredible job of depicting a family going through some hard times. I do not want to ruin the ending, so I will not but I will discuss some points Farhadi hit right on. I believe people can relate to the family’s situation no matter culture they are. There will always be hard decisions to make and follow through and this film makes it clear that some are just too complicated to make by themselves. 

To see other reviews about the film check out these other websites. 

Rotten Tomatoes

IMDb