La pomme

Based on a true story and starring the very same people involved in it, this movie (by first time director Samira Makhmalbaf) tells the story of Zahra and Massoumef, twelve year old twins living on a very humble neighborhood in Tehran. Virtually imprisoned in their own home by their impoverished, ignorant, fundamentalist father and blind mother, they were freed by Iran social services after neighbors complained that the children had not bathed and could not speak. Makhmalbaf shows the twins attempting to function beyond their parents' wall after the social workers have intervened. They lack social skills to the extent of being unaware that they have to pay for food. Made when she was just 17 years old (probably with some help from her father, the acclaimed Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf) this film stands very well in the Iranian tradition of social realist, humanist cinema that came out beginning in the mid 1980s. It's so moving, it will be hard for you not to cry while watching it.

One of the great pleasures I get out of watching foreign films is that I get see a real culture, not tainted by the political or mythical stereotypes that we have put upon them. The Apple (a.k.a. Sib) is perfect example, as it is an Iranian made production that speaks nothing of terrorism, but only of the people.

The Apple walks a thin line between documentary and drama as it tells the story of two young girls who have never walked outside their home in all the 11 years they have been alive. As the film opens, neighbors have written a letter to the Child Welfare department, and a case worker comes to the home to take the children away. Their father, a fundamentalist muslim, and their blind mother protest this and are allowed to take them back only if they promise to treat them properly.

What is truly amazing about this film is that is was filmed by Massoumeh Naderi, a seventeen year old actress and director, and that it stars the actual children and their father. As I watched this film I wasn't aware of this fact and I recall thinking about the amateur acting, yet how these characters seemed so believable. All of this makes me want to see the film again.

The Apple is one of the few films that has left thinking long after the credits have rolled and I am sure I will be disecting it for weeks to come. A review I read after the film questioned how the American media might cover a story of two children being locked away. I, on the other hand, am pondering the films intent, (I gather it is about women's rights) and the state of affairs for the real people who live in Iran.

Wow!

I can't add much to the review by Bob the Moo from Birmingham, who pretty much sums up the strengths of this film. However, as an illustration of the skill of the film-maker I would like to mention one scene that stands out in my memory, not in detail so as not to 'spoil', where a sense of incipient menace is subtly hinted at - one is almost expecting something horrible to go wrong to prove that it was right to keep the girls imprisoned for their own safety and this looks like being the moment when it happens; one hardly dares hope that it will have a happy and positive outcome - but it doesn't. It turns out there is nothing to worry about at all. This sounds like a non-event, but I found the subtlety with which this point was made quite outstanding.

The film is a pure delight, more powerful than any heavy diatribe against repressive regimes. The compassion with which all participants are presented in their own contexts, particularly the father who could have been demonised but isn't, is also outstanding. No judgements are made, and the lessons are all the more clear and convincing for that.

This is a film that stands out in my mind, both visually and symbolically, as clearly today as when I saw it several years ago.

After twelve years, the neighbours of the Naderi family in Tehran write to Social Services to raise awareness and seek help with the family. The family is made up of an old man, his blind wife and his twin daughters, who he keeps locked in the house and has done for the twelve years of their lives. The parents claim they were only protecting their children but the papers tell stories of children chained up and kept like animals. The film crew watch on as the parents and children come to terms with this new, enforced freedom.

Whenever director Samira Makhmalbaf heard about the story of the Naderi family she decided to make a film about it – two or three days later this film began, using film stock left over from her father's most recent film. Several weeks later the film was complete and the final product is a startingly assured product that is engaging, impressive and very balanced. I'm not sure what specifically attracted Makhmalbaf to the story but she has managed to bring so much out of it that I imagine she saw a lot of themes worth exploring in the original article she read. The film follows the real people as they all try to come to terms with this new world – the blind wife who fears for her girls; the father who is only following teaching on raising girl and wants to protect them; and of course the girls who quickly go from barely being able to communicate to running and playing outside. On this very human level it is a compelling film that mixes documentary and drama to good effect and you easily care for the people.

A scan of the plot may see your mind made up about the cruel Iranian father and the poor oppressed wife and girls, however to do this is a mistake because the film never does this, not once. The film looks at the people but it also looks at the view of society on women and the attitudes involved; it would be easy to just slate the religious, comparatively oppressive approach of such religious states but the film is too good for that. Instead it takes a balanced view that weighs up both views and doesn't judge anyone. By doing this the film is only stronger and more interesting because it comes over as a debate that engaged my brain in that aspect just as much as it engaged me with the people in the story.

The cast are almost all the real people "playing" their roles in front of the camera as they really happen; I'm sure some of it were staged reconstructions but mostly it convinces as the real deal – happening as we watch. The father is compelling and the film's balance is evident in that it allows him to be confused and bewildered about the accusations against him. The wife is well presented as well – confounding those who will have tuned in to see a cruel man oppressing the women in his life. The twin girls are easy to like and they are the human aspect of the story come (literally) to life – their development is touching and engaging.

Overall this is an excellent mix of documentary and drama that works on many levels. It is a human story that is touching but also works on other levels, being a thoughtful and balanced look at Iranian society, the restraints on people and on women generally. Without judging, it builds an interesting debate that produces a strong film that is well worth seeking out.

SIB recreates the true story of twin 12-year-old daughters whose poor elderly father and blind mother kept locked away inside their small house for their entire lives without any playmates or visitors. The girls are released to experience the sweet joys and harsh dangers of the outside world. The actual family members involved in the case play themselves in the movie. On many levels, the ending is as poetic as it is disturbing.

SIB is a 1998 movie made in Iran. Aida Mohammadkhani, the lead child actress from the great Iranian film BADKONAKE SEFID, has a cameo in SIB as a girl in the playground.