Leila (1997)

Leila: Directed by Dariush Mehrjui. With Leila Hatami, Ali Mosaffa, Jamileh Sheikhi, Mohamad Reza Sharifinia. Leila and Reza meet in a kind of celebration and fall for each other. Having discovered their love, they get married soon only to find out the infertility of Leila. That’s when Reza’s authoritative mother starts wheedling Leila to persuade Reza into second marriage for the sake of having a grandchild. Leila accepts at first but is unaware of her own strain threshold.

“This is a touching love story starring a sterile Iranian woman, who has to deal with her in-lawsu0026#39; continuous desire for a grandchild. It is by no means Hollywood-friendly: the story unfolds as it would in real life. It is a perfect example of art imitating life.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe cast is very proficient. Leila does an amazing job of conveying her deep yet veiled anxiety, annoyance and anger every time she speaks to her mother in-law. Sheikhi is equally proficient at making us scorn her. I did feel that Ali Mosaffa stole the show: he is flawless in his role of trying to keep the different protagonists happy, yet staying blind to their actual feelings.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis movie may lose a lot of its punch for non-farsi speakers.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eLeila Hatami (Leila, the Wife) – 7/10 – Great when acting, not as great at narrating.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAli Mosaffa (Reza, the Husband) – 10/10 – Compelling flawless performance.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eJamileh Sheikhi (Rezau0026#39;s Mother) – 8/10 – Successfully makes us shriek every time she speaks.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDariush Mehrjui – 8/10 – Very good script and good rhythm, though I felt that the movie was unusually dark. I am not sure if this was intended, poor cinematography or my failing TV set.”