WOMEN WITHOUT MEN {LETTERBOX} (MOTION PICTURE)
Summary
This drama film is about four women in Iran whose personal journeys parallel the events of the Iranian revolution of the 1950s, adapted from the novel of the same name. The program begins with a young woman, Munis, who paces atop a roof before throwing herself off, saying in a voiceover that she craves “silence.” Earlier, she listens to a radio broadcast about the ongoing political struggles in her country, but her brother, Amir Khan, angrily turns it off and says she has to prepare herself for a suitor who is visiting that night. She dismisses him, saying she has no desire to marry. When her friend Faezeh comes to visit her, they discuss the current events and Munis voices an interest in getting actively involved in protesting the British Imperialists, though Faezeh seems doubtful and inquires about Amir Khan’s upcoming wedding. Elsewhere, another young woman, Zarin, lives unhappily in a brothel and takes many “customers” a day, but runs away when she begins to see frightening visions. An older woman, Fakhri, attends a ceremony involving the Shah of Iran and talks to Abbas, a former love, and awkwardly introduces him to her controlling husband, Sadri. At home, Sadri and Fakhri argue when Sadri tries to boss her around, and she finally stands up for herself and leaves.
At Munis’ home, she and Faezeh discuss Amir Khan’s marriage to a woman named Parvis, and briefly talk about their worries surrounding sex and virginity. They are interrupted when Amir Khan comes by to remind Munis sternly about the forthcoming suitor. Munis goes to the roof as Faezeh watches Amir Khan praying, and when Munis jumps, her brother finds her and breaks down in grief and shock, burying her in the background and hiding the truth about her shameful death. Zarin goes to a public washroom and scrubs her emaciated body raw, not wanting to be touched, clearly struggling with herself. When she comes upon a funereal scene with women wailing and men praying, she runs away and into a forest by herself. Fakhri goes to find Abbas and meets his intellectual friends, and they have a lively discussion about society and philosophy. She confesses to him that she wants to leave her husband and buy a home in an orchard nearby. When she goes to visit the home, however, she finds Zarin lying seemingly lifeless in a creek, and she and the owner of the home rush her into the house.
Faezeh procures a charm to prevent Amir Khan’s marriage, as she is secretly in love with him. When she goes to place it at the home, however, she hears Munis whispering her name, and when she frantically digs at her friend’s shallow grave, she is shocked to find that she has apparently come back to life. Munis submerges herself in a pool, and then she and a confused Faezeh head out into the city, where Munis boldly walks into a coffeehouse for men only. When Faezeh leaves on her own, she is followed by one of the men, and later cries and says she is ashamed to go home, implying she was sexually assaulted. Munis and Faezeh travel to the orchard where Fakhri and Zarin are staying, and it is revealed that Zarin is still alive. Munis hears a young activist talking about the need to support the prime minister, Dr. Mossadegh, and he distributes flyers into the crowd before running away. She meets one of the protesters and he encourages her to participate. In the middle of a protest crowd, she reflects on “the will that moves all things” and commits to taking part in the revolution. At a meeting, she learns that a military coup is imminent because of pressure from America to overthrow Mossadegh, and she and the others increase their activity, distributing more flyers at night and placing political graffiti around the city.
Faezeh relives her own rape in a dream and attempts to recover with the help of Fakhri and Zarin. Fakhri is happy that Zarin has recovered and expresses motherly feelings towards her, although Zarin remains silent and distant. More protests continue in Tehran until finally Mossadegh is overthrown in a coup d'état and General Fazlollah Zahedi succeeds him. A party is held at the orchard home and Fakhri’s artist friends all attend, as does Amir Khan, who shows up unexpectedly looking for Faezeh. When he finds her, he scolds her for her defiant actions and appearance and reveals that his wife, Parvis, is pregnant, but offers to marry Faezeh as well, saying that Parvis will be her servant, and she turns him down angrily. Abbas arrives with her American fiancée, which breaks Fakhri’s heart, although she agrees to sing for the group when he asks her to. Elsewhere, other activists learn that one of their men, Hassan, was arrested, and worry that he knows too much and will talk under torture. It seems that he rats them out, and soon the military arrives at the orchard and there is an outbreak of violence, with one young man whom Munis knows being stabbed to death, and she mourns over his body. At the same time, Zarin succumbs to death with Faezeh by her side and Fakhri cries over her, having grown to love her during their time together. The film concludes by returning to Munis’ leap from the roof, and she says in a voiceover that death is easy and provides a sense of “release.” The film is then dedicated to all of those fighting for freedom over the decades in Iran.
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: 2009
- RUNNING TIME: 1:40:52
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 101314
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Iran; Women
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Jerome de Noirmont … Executive Producer
- Barbara Gladstone … Executive Producer
- Oleg Kokhan … Executive Producer
- Susanne Marian … Producer
- Martin Gschlacht … Producer
- Philippe Bober … Producer
- Joerg E. Schweizer … Associate Producer
- Shoja Azari … Associate Producer, Writer
- Peter Hermann … Line Producer
- Bruno Wagner … Line Producer
- Erwin M. Schmidt … Line Producer
- Isabell Wiegand … Line Producer
- Shirin Neshat … Director, Writer
- Shahrnush Parsipur … Adapted from the novel by
- Ryuichi Sakamoto … Music by
- Pegah Ferydoni … Cast, Faezeh
- Arita Shahrzad … Cast, Fakhri
- Shahnam Tolouei … Cast, Munis
- Orsi Toth … Cast, Zarin
- Ahmad Hamed … Cast, Gardener
- Navíd Akhavan … Cast, Ali
- Bijan Daneshmand … Cast, Abbas
- Essa Kahir … Cast, Amir Khan
- Tahmoures Tehrani … Cast, General Sadri
- Abbas Bakhtiari … Cast, Singer
- Mehdi Moinzadeh … Cast, Communist Leader
- Farhad Payar … Cast, Leading Officer
- Shahrnush Parsipur … Cast, Madame Pari
- Said Oveissi … Cast, Hassan
- Mithra Zahedi … Cast, Nahid
- Mina Azarian … Cast, Zinot
- Shahbaz Noshir … Cast, Arash
- Nader Farman … Cast, Babak
- Youssef Nabil … Cast, Youssef
- Natasha Chudyk … Cast, Christine
- Aziz Hattab … Cast, Comrade
- Soussan Azarine … Cast, Grandmother
- Fadma Hammou Maadini … Cast, Alieh
- Fouad Saad Allah … Cast, Taxi driver
- Khalid Elwadi … Cast, Activist
- Mohammed Alaoui … Cast, Rapist
- Salma Daneshmano … Cast, Guest
- Rahi Daneshmano … Cast, Soldier