The movie is a fascinating look at Iranian culture and politics in the issues of women's rights. Directed by Reza Karami, it shows that Persian women enjoy more freedoms, but are still struggling for equality under the harsh rules. Through the story of Sharzad (Niki Karimi), we see life in Modern Day, Tehran as a female attorney. She spends her days in court, fighting for her women clients to get access to their children. She now finds herself in the same situation, and experiences, first-hand, the unfairness, the helplessness, the absurdity of what her clients go through. Sharzad loses custody of her seven year old diabetic son following a divorce with her ex-husband; a powerful businessman (Fariburz Arabnia). Sharzard's case is hardly unique as the court are clearly biased against women even highly competent ones- a point made clear by the courtroom where separate entrances exist for men and women. Islamic law declares that a man can divorce his wife at any time, merely by declaring it. She has no equivalent rights. She cannot do the same. The burden of proof is all on the woman, should she want a divorce, and custody is almost never granted to the woman. Sharzad must find the strength to change her circumstances and tries to get the boy back. The boy's diabetes is made worse because of the lackadaisical father is more interested in work than in domestic duties like about giving their son insulin shots, and refuses to admit that he is ever at fault, even when the son collapses in the schoolyard. She does her ex chores during her twice- weekly visit dues to make sure the boy keep healthy. During this time Sharzad familiar with the loopholes in the law. Begin to abandoned her lucrative and important business to fight her own case. If a father can be declared "incompetent", then, and only then, will custody be granted to the mother by documents her son's illness, the hospital visits, the emergency room runs while the court remains immovable to her and seeing no way out, kidnapped the traumatized child who cry to be with his father as the man hunt comes alive ending in tragedy. While the movie sheds light on the plight of the Iranian women that devalues women to such a degree that it leaves them no recourse but to take the law into their own hands. It's also well-written that the movie questions if her actions were justified or doom from the start show the price paid by all people of society living under such an authoritarian regime. The acting was great. Arabnia as the husband, also manages to portray levels of subtlety here as a cold man, kind of uncaring, but when push comes to shove, he does not want to harm anyone. He isn't the villain, his situation is heartbreaking . The husband is baffled by the course his life has taken. He punishes his ex-wife by refusing access to their son. And perhaps he has some resentment that their son is a bit high-maintenance, being diabetic. All of that is in in the performances. Karimi as Sharzad operates at an increasing fever pitch of desperation and fear throughout the harrowing film. Audience would ache for her, for what she has lost, and what she is willing to give up. It was also interesting to see how well those with money were able to live in Iran. This is certainly different from the image that one gets watching the news. The movie also looks 'aged'. It's says it was produce in 2000 or 2001, but the film looks way older than it's seems. It's look like 1980's. There is a lot of film scar in this movie, it look like a damaged film reel that ended up in bad shape with scratches and dust. The film decay is so strong that some of the color fade, or change. There is a number of film grain, and missing scenes and sounds that was censored or edited out. The techno music and grimly music is just odd use. Also the subtitling was done very poorly as it was impossible to read. It was light print in faded white against a light background, and that made it difficult to read. The movie can only be understood by those who speak Farsi. Check out the movie if you can. Sharzad is just one of the representative of other modern Iranian women struggling to be heard in a country that is still a patriarchal society at heart.
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