Le jour où je suis devenue femme

Having followed Iranian cinema for a while I didn't think I was in for a surprise but Meshkini (director) managed to blow me away with the minimalist approach to depicting the fundamental issues of Iranian society. The elegance, minimalism and eloquence of this picture manage to depict the role of a woman in Iran with painful clarity.

"Roozi khe zan shodam" is an essential and defining piece of cinema.

It was, in some ways, a strange film. Its' use of symbolism, combined with the mystery of incomplete plots gave it a unique look, and oddly made the film better than it probably is. There are folks who won't care much for this film, but I found it a charming and poignant look at the status of women in Islamic nations. How tradition is clashing with changing times.

I liked the first segment best, because of it's sweet sadness. I next like the third segment, because the old lady was quite charming. And though I did like the middle segment, I found it the hardest to follow and understand.

This isn't a great film, but it is a very good one. Technically it's below what I've come to expect from a film, but it conveys it's message well and does so with bittersweet sadness which works well for this film. It may be an Iranian "feminist" movie, but it's worth a look.

On the surface this film tells three simple stories, but its simplicity is deceiving. Each story tells an episode in the life of a woman but as the woman ages the stories become more and more surreal. In so doing Marzieh Meshkini is making a parallel with the life of Iranian women.

I saw this gem of a film a few months ago and it has lived with me ever since. There are lots of great things to talk about but I will only mention a few. I liked the striking images of the sea and the shore and the manner in which they are imbued with great meaning. The sea - which represents adventure, sensuality, fluidity, freedom and sex - is a constant motif throughout the film and is a joy to look at. I also liked the structure - reminiscent of Hemingway's short stories - where characters from one story seem to reappear in others.

But though connected through theme and also through the plot, the individual films retain a great level of distinctiveness. For instance, the second film remains unresolved at the end and the discussion of the two fellow riders in the third movie only have the effect of heightening that suspense. On the other hand, the third film has the effect of satisfactorily and unexpectedly wrapping up the first film: whereas the girl in the first film was denied the chance to enjoy the sea (and everything it represents), the old woman in the third film takes her revenge by completely inverting tradition. The image of the old woman and those motifs of domesticity being carried away on the sea is unusual but also funny. In putting not only herself but also her whole house on the sea, the old woman has inverted tradition and has the ultimate revenge.

Absolutely stunning. On the surface it's a triptych of short stories showing a girl, young wife, and old woman in Iran, but it plays as allegory, and the way it's executed by director Marzieh Meshkini is masterful. She shows great restraint and precision in everything she does, delivering a message with enough ambiguity to make the viewer ponder, and yet clearly showing the constraints of being a woman in a male-dominated society. The middle story in particular was as poetic and profound an expression of the patriarchy as I've ever seen; it was simply breathtaking. This is a film that should be far better known and seen; seek it out.