Leila (Full Screen)

Apart from the virtues of the story, I liked the way this movie shows how powerful women are within Iranian culture. For starters, it is obvious that although Leila's family is well-off, Reza's family is quite wealthy -- such a marriage, to the economic benefit of the woman, would never happen in a culture which doesn't value women. Also, all the mothers and sisters we see are very opinionated and vocal. And second marriages are permitted because of the clarity of Muslim mandates on the matter -- the Prophet himself had multiple wives; nevertheless, it is obvious that the Iranian Cosmopolites frown on the practice. And it may even explain some of this movie if you understand Islamic chain of command: first one must obey God, then one obeys God's messenger, and then one obeys one's mother.

The respect and love between Reza and Leila is touching and beautiful. They laugh and poke fun at people and make kebab together on their patio, and seem so perfectly united, which makes the foreshadowing even more poignant.

But it is Leila's nature that is the most fascinating part of this movie. Her humility and warmth when she receives gifts for her birthday, her forebearance with her mother-in-law, her anxiety as she scrubs down her house -- all of it is so real and so tragic.

This is an excellent film. The human drama is searing, and the nice comic touches go a long way to relieving the unrelenting emotional pressure.

I was mesmerized by the performances, expecially Reza's mother. What a conniving shrew! Everyone is perfect. The direction is fluid and controlled, nuanced when it needs to be, hammer-like when the story calls for it.

Yet, this DVD contains, without a doubt, the WORST film print I have ever seen. Scratched, marred, muffled audio,.... The contrast ratio is appalling: all the blacks are crunched: there is no fine detail in the dark areas. And the whites are practically blooming: way too hot.

The filmmaker obviously used his camera as an artistic tool, and one gets the impression that over half the story - the glimpses into modern Iranian culture - are lost to us simply because the DVD studio got cheap and released a trashy print.

Ever hear of the ORIGINAL NEGATIVE, guys?

Hello! McFly!!!

Anyway, here's hoping someone will do the right thing and release a good print of this fascinating work.

The more Iranian cinema I watch, the more convinced I am that we are really all alike in the sense that most Iranians are just good people trying to live their lives in modern society, not the extremem fanatics we are constantly being shown on the news.

This movie made me want to go to Iran and befriend these families. They seems like such interesting people.

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The film itself is a powerful representation of cultural repression of women. I won't go much into the details of the story. It's fairly straightforward. A woman who is unable to conceive is convinced by her husband's mother, due to the heavy cultural value of having a male heir, to allow her husband to take a second wife. The film is essentially a display of Leila's struggle to deal with this situation.

It is a strong film. I would argue that it is a bit too long, clocking in at just over two hours. And I personally am fond of the more artsy and esoteric films of Kiarostami, so I wasn't particulaly pleased with the heavy handed melodrama of this film. But all that aside, it is a good film in its own right. Just not to my taste.

As for the DVD. This is a terrible package. Absolutely terrible. The print is horrible: washed out and spotty. The subtitles are embedded, which isn't a huge problem since most people won't want to shut them off anyway, but they were clearly transferred straight off of the same terrible film print. They are frequently misspelled and they crack and wash out on certain letters.

Not to mention the suggested retail price, which is insanely high. Criterion price for Madacy Entertainment quality; which is unforgivable price gouging by First Run Features, taking advantage of the wallets of the fans of rare foreign films. It's a film worth watching, but the quality of this DVD release is only worthy of a rental.