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