Customer Reviews

Under the Skin of the City

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The portrait of the struggles of a working class family in Tehran, this film deals with multiple issues which dominate contemporary urban life, including cutting school, political demonstrations, holding onto an old house in a changing neighborhood, domestic abuse, emigration, and much more. Mrs. Tuba works in a factory and struggles to hold her household together while everyone else around her - family, neighbors, coworkers,- are caught up in some kind of scheme or personal crisis. A hard-hitting, fast-moving film.

Having lived in this part of the world for some time, I was able to appreciate most of the cultural details that perhaps others in an American audience might miss. Still, the plot confused me in places. But the film is worthwhile for a couple of particularly good scenes. The first is when Abbas finally gets up the courage to declare his feelings for the young woman at the office - he overflows with happiness, cheering himself on in the elevator, and dancing around his mother's home with his sister's wedding dress as a partner. For a moment, he captures the bliss felt in Gene Kelly's "Singin' in the Rain." The second powerful scene is the ending, which turns the spotlight onto the viewer of the film.

The real life of a big city depicted in a way the Iranian censorship did not like too much. In this genre, the real masterpiece remains definitely "Dayareh" (The Circle) by Jafar Panahi.

This neo-realist style examination of a struggling Iranian family, by Iran's best known
female film-maker has a quiet complexity, and an anger simmering just under its surface.

It also makes one question just how closed a society Iran really was in 2001, when this
film was voted best of the year by Iranian film critics. Although, sadly, things look like
they have gone backward since this film was made, when free elections were just starting
to becoming a reality.

A few twists are familiar or `melodramatic', but Bani-Etemad handles them with a subtle
reality that seems to spring from her background making documentaries, and keeps them
from feeling heavy handed.

While I was watching it I liked it, but it was only after its startling ending that I found
myself deeply shaken and thinking.

After working long hours in a Tehran textile factory, Mrs. Tuba negotiates the lives of her troubled children, her reclusive husband, and an abused neighbor. Her children have various problems including skipping school, attending political demonstrations, staying in an abusive marriage, and constantly spending money on presents and expensive dinners. Much attention is focused on Abbas, the eldest child, who is trying desperately trying to obtain a Japanese visa to earn enough money to enable his elder mother to stop working. In between his work assignments Abbas admires an office worker and showers her with attention and gifts.

Throughout this film there are frequent scenes depicting the commotion of the busy highways of Tehran and its beautiful streets and shop fronts. Also included are numerous insights into the Iranian society and cultural customs. Unfortunately, I don't feel that this is a particularly strong film. The beginning was quite confusing and muddled together as the characters' relationships were never adequately defined. It wasn't until about halfway through that the plot started to come together. I believe that many nuances were lost in translation and that if I were more acquainted with this culture than I would have understood more of what occurred. I sincerely wonder if this film were taken out of the exotic location would there remain anything sufficient of the plot? Overall, this film is a typical family drama with minimal sparkles or highlights.