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Also in this section:
Portrait Of Life Under Islam: Two Women
The New York Post, July 21, 2000
Tahmineh Milani's astonishingly
daring "Two Women" isn't nearly as sophisticated or technically accomplished
as many of the Iranian films that have made it to these shores.
But it's fascinating and moving all the same,
both in its depiction of Iranian daily life and in its
powerful portrait of female oppression.
It begins in the present day with architect Roya
(Marila Zare'i) directing the action on a construction site, a
hard hat over her hejab (head-scarf). She gets a call for the
first time in many years from Fereshteh (Niki Karimi), her
college friend.
In the first of several flashbacks, you see the
two young women at school together in the early '80s.
Fereshteh had been the superior student and seemed to have a
brilliant career ahead of her.
But Fereshteh has a scary stalker who at one
point throws acid on her cousin, mistaking him for a boyfriend.
Because it's Iran, she's blamed for the incident
by her insanely unreasonable father. Her only way out of
trouble is a loveless arranged marriage to a pathologically
jealous man (Atila Fesiani) who resents her education and
won't let her use the phone or speak to her old friends.
It's only after years of imprisonment in this
marriage that destiny intervenes to bring Fereshteh into
contact with her old friend Roya, who has gone on to lead the
life that should have been hers.
You can understand why "Two Women" created such
a sensation in Iran: It presents an angry, undeniable argument for the
kind of freedoms that women in the West take for granted.
Running time: 96 minutes. Not rated. In Farsi
with English subtitles.