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Reviews
Roozi ke zan shodam (2000)
three-part film of female-centred narratives taking place on Kish Island, Iran.
This is a beautifully shot, richly textured film. Its decidedly surrealist elements do not detract from its poignant central message: that the arbitrary social conventions which govern womens' lives in Iran are inherently absurd. What is so striking about this film is the way in which the director brings out this element of absurdity by transplanting an Iranian narrative onto the bizarre setting of Kish Island, a free trade zone and resort off the coast of Iran. The women in the film are all forced to play out the roles assigned for them by Iranian society, despite the virtual absence of the state, which is so often demonized in treatments of Iranian women's lives.
Doa al karawan (1959)
A touching melodrama exploring gender relations in turn of the century Egypt.
Amna, Hanadi, and their mother are village women who are forced into city life when their cruel Uncle Gaber casts them out of the village. The characters they encounter in the city are a revealing mix of urban professionals and seedier individuals. The professionals (the chief of police, the engineer) represent the new technocratic upper class of Egypt, responsible for modernization, urban planning, and bureaucratization. In the chief of police's home, Amna transforms from an illiterate village girl in hijab to a literate young woman in Western dress. In the end, the oppressive, misogynistic Uncle Gaber is arrested in the city, proof that his village code of honour does not apply in the modern urban context.
Ana hurra (1959)
A young woman's search for personal freedom in early 1950s Egypt.
This film is part of a trilogy by Salah Abu Seif about women's empowerment. It takes place in late 1940s / early 1950s urban Egypt, and tells the story of a young woman's search for personal freedom and a fulfilling identity as a young modern Egyptian. Although well acted and beautifully filmed, what is most notable about this film is its overt political agenda. "Ana Hurra" is disparaging of the traditional power dynamic between married men and women in Egyptian society, and sets up uneducated, housebound mothers as a figure of pity and even ridicule. Conversely, the protagonist, played by Lubna Abdel Aziz, finds fulfillment through Western education, Egyptian literature, and eventually, radical political activism. Although there is certainly a love story element to the film, it is by no means the central point. Abdel Aziz's character achieves success on her own terms, and she is in many ways far more empowered than female film protagonists of 1950s American cinema.