First Hit: A very strong film representing both the oppression of women in the Middle-East and the taboo of non-traditional sexual orientation.
Atafeh (played by Nikohl Boosheri) comes from a wealthy and connected family. Her brother Mehran (played by Reza Sixo Safai) has had drug problems and comes back home to work on creating a clean life for himself.
As part of his transformation he finds himself in mosques praying as a way to keep his sober life. Atafeh’s friend in school is Shireen (played by Sarah Kazemy) who comes from a less wealthy family and is a beautiful quiet girl. Together they do things they aren’t supposed to do; they go to parties with men, wear sexy clothing, drink alcohol and end up in jail for some of their indiscretions.
The scenes showing the youth having fun, dancing and then being raided by the morality police were interesting and provocative. As I’ve not lived in a country that does this, I can only imagine what it is like.
Added to this is that Shireen and Atafeh love each other and are intimate. This is frowned upon in their society so Shireen marries Mehran to be near Atafeh, but jealousy and control develop on the siblings parts and this creates additional family struggle.
From a film perspective I applaud the film for sharing the views and lives of a different country, but the film’s quality and its presentation waiver throughout its 107 minutes. I did like the music because it combined traditional and hip-hop Iranian sounds.
Boosheri was really strong and excellent in her role as a young confused woman stretching the bounds of her life as set forth by society. Kazemy was immensely beautiful in a quiet way and did a great job of holding in her confusion and difficulties of being poor, gay and a woman trapped in a restrictive society. Safai was strong in showing the shift of being lost to finding solace in prayer. As he conformed to the rules of his society, he becomes clearer in his life. Maryam Keshavarz wrote and directed this film and it is clearly from a woman’s perspective.
Overall: This was a very good film and I appreciated the push to show the audience the difficulty of life in Iran.