Film Review: Leila

I borrow films now and again from The Film Connection, run by Mercy Corps. This operates much like Netflix, only there is no charge. The movies are meant to be thought-provoking and 'groups' (min. 2 people) who join are asked to discuss the film and ideally review it. I must say, I've been shucking my review duties.

Anyway, Leila came out of Iran over 10 years ago. The basic storyline is a woman and her husband, a 'modern' couple by Iranian standards, who find out that she, Leila, is unable to conceive. Though the husband insists again and again that he does not need children (nor want them) Leila's mother-in-law has other ideas, convincing Leila that Reza really is just trying to spare her feelings and that he truly wants a child. Darling MIL convinces Leila to encourage Reza to take a 2nd wife with her blessing. Despite Leila assuring herself that having a 2nd wife who can bear children will make her husband, and consequently herself, happier, it just doesn't fly.

Now, I won't give away the whole plot, but for anyone who's a fan on Iranian films, you know most of them never end happily (think The Color of Paradise and The Day I Became a Woman). There was really one sticking point about this film that made me not like it, though I know the reason why it is the way it is. Unlike other Iranian films I've watched, this one lacked believability. "Ten" showed a female taxi driver out and about during her work day. "Children of Heaven" focused on the activities of the boy and his little sister, mainly. What "Leila" failed to do was really give you insight into this woman's life at home with her husband. Leila mops the floors and scrubs the tile in her hejab. Leila and her husband eat dinner alone while she wears hejab. Even the shots of emotional intimacy are lit so carefully so at to make it seem Leila is still wearing her veil. Now, I undestand why they have to do this. I understand the limitations placed on Iranian filmmakers. The problem is that when you present something real, like observing a woman and her husband interacting in their home, in an unreal fashion, it makes it hard to buy the storyline. I kept wanting to see this real glimpse of Leila. When she gathered with her sisters, uncle and brothers, I wanted to see her pull off the veil along with her female family members, and show the true relationships that Iranians surely must have behind closed doors with loved ones. Many Iranian filmmakers have worked around the censorship and done wonders, but her veil made it hard for me to feel close to the main character, because I just couldn't buy it. Perhaps I'll stick to the Iranian films that use child actors to flesh out contemporary issues in Iranian society until the censorship is lifted.