Indiepix Films chooses wisely in including the 2009 drama "Women Without Men" in the three separate releases that comprise a December 12, 2017 "Indiepix Festival Favorites" series. The other two (to-be-reviewed) films are the coming-of drama "I Believe in Unicorns" and "White Shadow" from executive producer Ryan Gosling.
The basis for labeling this movie that the DVD back cover aptly describes as "the story of four disparate women whose lives converge in a mystical orchard on the outskirts of Tehran" during "the political turmoil of Iran's 1953 coup d'etat" as a festival favorite includes numerous awards at those events. These include several wins at the 2009 Venice Film Festival.
The following YouTube clip of the official trailer for "Women" does a good job introducing the era of the film and the backgrounds of the titular females. It further achieves its purpose of compelling the viewer to want to see more.
The leader of "the four disparate women" is middle-aged Fakhri, who buys the "mystical orchard" after a chance encounter with her ex on his return from American prompts her to re-evaluate her already not-so-happy marriage to an Iranian general. That military leader nastily criticizing the West in general and the arts specifically (and making vicious remarks related to his wife being 50) finally breaks the back of the camel.
The younger women in the film are equally sympathetic. Munis is a politically aware 30-something "spinster" living under the oppression of her violence-prone brother Amir Khan, who treats her like a servant. His mistreatment extends to forcing her to look pretty for an unwanted suitor.
Fazeeh is a friend of Munis and is much more outspoken then her. This assertiveness extends to going outside without anything covering her face. Amir Khan expressing a very creepy romantic interest in Fazeeh contributes further drama.
The final member of the quartet of women "Without Men" is young prostitute Zarin. Seeing her life in the brothel that requires that she come and have sex with the next man in line as if she is being called on to help someone purchase clothing is very distressing.
Fakhri throwing a large lavish party to introduce her friends from her old life to her wonderful new one begins as a wonderful celebration of freedom; reality crashing in in the form of a large military invasion increasingly ruins the mood. The saddest part of this is that it indicates that harsh reality always will invade Utopia.
The more general message is that traditional values often clash with the rights of women; this still occurring (and promoting the exploitation of women) in every country shows that this story set 65 years ago in a repressive country still is highly relevant.
Anyone with questions or comments regarding "Women" is encouraged either to email me or to connect on Twitter via @tvdvdguy.
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