Dokhtar

I have often wondered what draws me to Iranian cinema. Somehow the movies from this country which make it to the European festival circuit are almost always very good. They tend to be emotionally complex and also quite subtle tales about ordinary people with their troubles and choices set against the backdrop of a totalitarian and outwardly very religious society.

This movie tells us about a girl who goes against her father's wish (possibly the first time ever) and it ends in a tragedy (or so it seems to her, at least at first). The movie sort of switches its focus somewhere in the middle: instead of the daughter, the father becomes the main protagonist of the second half of the movie. He's an excellent character, a huge mountain of a man who makes his point with silence for most of the time, keeping his words and outside expressions of emotion at a minimum. It is interesting how the dad (who seems to be almost like the villain of this movie in the beginning, a harsh and unpredictable man overly protective of his daughter) slowly becomes somebody who the viewer can sympathize with.

It can't be said that the people in this film manage to solve their issues by the end of the movie. There is no happy end (or even an ending as such, in the sense of how we usually think of movie endings). Still, it seems that some progress has been made and the viewer can be reasonably certain that the relationship between the father and the daughter will at least be more honest and open in the future.

At International Film Festival of India(IFFI 2016), this film won Golden peacock award in Best Film category received by director Raza Mirkarimi and Best Actor award by Farhad Aslani who played a role of Azizi, a father.

Though the title is Daughter, movie is all about caring but dictating father. He is working as a top level manager in an oil refinery in southern Iran. He deals with everyone in family on orders. Not a single major decision is taken without his consent. When his daughter, Setareh goes out of house for a day tour in Tehran and against wish of her father, he gets furious and rides car 1000+ kilometers on next day to bring her back. In search of his daughter, he has to visit his sister's house. In her house his all past memories stand in front of him and he was made to think about his own character that influenced lives of many. Very emotional and gripping drama is developed while conversation with his sister. At the start, we see a short tempered, angry dictating father, but at the end we realize him as a person in depth.

Movie starts with a few girls having dinner party and ends with an emotional drama. Movie ends on abrupt point. We could not see issues raised in second part of movie are resolved. It might be vision of director to keep movie open ended and let audience keep thinking what might have happened afterwards.

I am really charmed by sound, music and colors in cinematography. His oil refinery and car going in and out is shown in top view through sky is an example of beauty.