LEILA (director/writer: Dariush Mehrjui; screenwriter: from a story by Mahnaz Ansarian; cinematographer: Mahmud Kalari; editor: Mostafa Kherqepush; cast: Leila Hatami (Leila), Ali Mosaffa (Reza, the Husband), Jamileh Sheikhi (Reza's Mother), Mohammad Reza Sharifinia (Leila's Uncle), Turan Mehrzad (Leila's Mother), Shaqayeq Farahani (Second Wife), Amir Pievar (Reza's Father); Runtime: 124; 1996-Iran)
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Dariush Mehrjui is one of Iran's finest modern filmmakers, his speciality is making films about relationships among the upper-middle-class illuminati, and especially love stories about women. This drama is a very powerful, poignant and mesmerizing love story, about the pressures of dealing with Moslem traditions and of a woman's own sense of being.
A very warm couple, the handsome Reza (Ali Mosaffa) and the beautiful Leila (Leila Hatami), perfectly suited for each other in temperament find happiness in their first year of marriage. Why this marriage should turn ice cold, when everything is so blissful, is amazing to watch as it unfolds. This is a truly heartbreaking tale without contrivances, that examines a woman's psyche, looking carefully at her wants and her expectations. The trouble starts when after a year, there is no child. The couple go to a doctor and are tested to see if either one has infertility problems. They swear their love for each other, and in their own quiet way, say that it doesn't matter who is to blame, they will stay married no matter what. The problem comes from Leila's overbearing mother-in-law (Jamileh Sheikhi), a monster, if there ever was one. She rattles the poor, sensitive girl and completely intimidates her, stressing how important it is to have a son to carry out the family name. The wealthy Reza, who works in his father's company, is the only son, there are four daughters. When the news from the lab comes back that Leila is barren, that her hormonal levels are too low to ever have children, the mother-in-law heartlessly puts the burden on her, naggingly telling her that she is holding her son back from raising a family, as he confided to others that he really wants one.
The weak son never confronts his mother, as he seems perplexed, even as his wife begins to slowly sink into a shell, confused and ashamed about herself, unwilling to confide in anyone, not even her mother. She receives passive support from Reza, but she can't face the treacherous mother-in-law when alone, who has the gift of twisting things around during her visits while pretending to be nice by bearing gifts and then she turns on the acid tongue, making Leila feel inadequate, as she just tries to please her by agreeing with whatever she says. The mother is so invasive of the couple's privacy, that she calls them always at the wrong moment and the ringing phone is like a knife sticking in Leila, it is so painful to just watch the phone and hear it ringing, and watch Leila cringe at the thought of hearing what her mother-in-law has to say.
The selfish mother-in-law after two years of intimidating the girl, telling her Reza wants a child so much he will sneak behind her back and have a child with another woman, and then have the nerve to suggest that Leila give her permission for Reza to get another wife, as evidently, polygamy is permitted in Iran.
Reza reacts by saying he doesn't want another wife, and that he can live happily without children, just as long as she returns to being the old playful Leila, who smiles so easily and is close to him. But he never reassures her that he means what he says, and she grows more distant from him, talking to herself aloud, so that we could hear her hurtful thoughts, things that she feels she can't tell anyone else. She can't take the pressure anymore, so she pushes Reza to look for a new wife. On each occasion, when Reza goes courting, he requests that she ride with him to meet his perspective bride, as he drops her off by the stores to shop while he goes to look over the woman his Aunt Shamsi or his mother-in-law chose for him.
Reza is never forceful enough in his statements telling her that it doesn't matter that she can't have children, as Leila has nagging doubts about whether he really means it or is just saying it. The couple have all the creature comforts of modern life and act like modern people do, and are seen playfully watching Dr. Zhivago on TV together, but tradition is also very strong. She stays home and does the cooking and the womanly chores, while wearing, as she must, by Iranian law, a chador to cover her head. There seems to be no problem following these traditions, but this modern couple has its feet stuck in two different worlds and they seem confused as to where they really want to be standing.
I recently saw another film from the Middle-East, "Kadosh," an Israeli film with the same topic and the same intransigent attitude was displayed by those who call themselves orthodox believers in God, who believe a woman who is barren has been cursed by God, they were Hasidim, a sect of the Jewish religion.
It is curious that the men are so docile, that Reza never tells his mother to mind her own business, and even though Reza's father disagrees with what his wife is doing, he never stops her from ruining his son's marriage. And when he takes a second wife, Leila has had enough. She can't live with him anymore in the same house, though she bears no grudge against his new wife, she still returns to her mother's house and withdraws from Reza completely, quietly disrespecting him and filling herself with self-pity. She says that she has turned to stone. When she learns that the new wife gives birth to a baby girl, she anxiously takes a peek at the girl, but has no love anymore for Reza and as she once refused to answer him when he told her after the wedding that he would divorce his new wife if she would return, she still refuses his offers. It is too late for him to regain her love and his dignity as a man. When the new wife divorces him because he can't love her and gets a generous alimony and then weds her old suitor, because she now has the kind of money she never had before, she ironically leaves the baby girl to be raised by Reza's mother. The perfect marriage is destroyed forever as 10 years have passed since we first saw the happy couple meeting at a family communal where they made a traditional pudding, and all Reza could now do is be angry with his mother for ruining his life, still unaware of how weakly he behaved.
This is a very compelling and subtle film, on one hand it shows the current conflict in Iran between modernity and Islamic tradition, but on the other hand, this is a penetrating film about the universal problem of love, as seen through the psyche of a woman who is stripped of her self-esteem, and even though she is beautiful and has a considerate husband, she is still not sure of what her role is in society. This is a very sensitive tale; it is film that was convincing in every possible situation it presented; it is the work of a great director.
REVIEWED ON 8/27/2000 GRADE: A
Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews"
http://www.sover.net/~ozus
ozus@sover.net
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