Abbas Kiarostami is one of Iran’s top directors and has won a number of awards, including the prestigious Palme d’Or. “10” was also nominated for a Palme d’Or.
“10” is an unusual film, but a moving one. There are ten short episodes, all of which occur in a car driven around Tehran by a woman. Each episode depicts (but not heavy-handedly) a different social problem in Iran, most of which deal with women.
The driver of the car is a woman who divorced her (little seen) husband and later married another man. Several of the scenes are of the woman driving her young son about town. He is visibly upset about the divorce, in part because, due to Iran’s divorce laws, the mother had to claim (untruthfully) that the husband was a drug addict in order to get the divorce. In addition to showing the (universal) problems that a child has with divorce, the film shows the unequal relationships between men and women and the expectations placed upon wives and mothers. Watching the child berate his mother for her choices is very difficult. Is the director commenting on the dysfunction of family life in Iran today? The other scenes concern a friend who is jilted by her erstwhile boyfriend; a drunken prostitute, an unhappy sister, and a pious elderly woman who, after losing her husband and son (perhaps in the devastating Iran/Iraq war) goes to a mausoleum to pray three times daily.
The driver of the car is a woman who divorced her (little seen) husband and later married another man. Several of the scenes are of the woman driving her young son about town. He is visibly upset about the divorce, in part because, due to Iran’s divorce laws, the mother had to claim (untruthfully) that the husband was a drug addict in order to get the divorce. In addition to showing the (universal) problems that a child has with divorce, the film shows the unequal relationships between men and women and the expectations placed upon wives and mothers. Watching the child berate his mother for her choices is very difficult. Is the director commenting on the dysfunction of family life in Iran today? The other scenes concern a friend who is jilted by her erstwhile boyfriend; a drunken prostitute, an unhappy sister, and a pious elderly woman who, after losing her husband and son (perhaps in the devastating Iran/Iraq war) goes to a mausoleum to pray three times daily.
Women who are married, unmarried, divorced, and women, with different economic situations all confront difficulties Many viewers who know nothing about modern Iran might be surprised by this film, which was directed by a man who appears to have been able to get into the minds of Iranian women today.
I strongly recommend this film for a mature audience. Because it is subtitled, it is not appropriate for an ESL audience.
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