Μύ Iranian director Jafar Panahi's film is an impassioned and hard-hitting social drama based on the poor plight of women in his country.
A woman unable to ride in a car with a non-relative is just one of many startling facts in the film, while women forbidden to smoke in public provides a metaphor for oppression as six suffering females step in to each other's lives.
Each woman has her own unsettling experience. Among these is the horror of giving birth to a girl instead of a much desired boy; escaping the oppression of her father's house to seek an abortion, resulting in the woman being tossed out by boorish brothers.
Despite his obvious symbolism, Panahi squeezes power into every scene. He neither strays from the essence of his ideas, nor loses faith in his ability to let silence carry weight.
Adept in his use of hand-held camera, particularly to capture women moving nervously through the streets, Panahi also taps into the experience and honesty of his non-professional cast.
Poignant scenes include a girl abandoned by her desperate mother, and one of the prisoners looking lovingly at a painting which, to her, represents paradise.
In Farsi with subtitles.
