I didn't see any sick devotion, only desperation at the situations they were in.
What women in the West don't realise is that what they take for granted on a daily basis, women across the world are fighting for and dreaming of.
You can see at the start that Simin wants to move so her daughter can have a better life, but the father cannot leave his own father who is elderly and sick.
That is because on the other side of the world they take care of their parents till their death. They don't put them in homes or live separately from them. Every woman moves in with her husbands family.
The film also shows that as a woman you can't get a divorce easily, in fact the only time you can be granted one is if your husband cant have children or is impotent.
As for Razieh she has no choice but to be with her husband. It doesn't matter that he is ill or mental or abusive.
In the Middle East and South Asia women are powerless. They cant meet someone and fall in love and if it doesn't work out they can then go ahead and find someone else. It's not like that. Arranged marriage is the way its done. And then you just have to live with it. If you get divorced it is common to then not get married again as no man wants you. You are tarnished.
Also most women aren't allowed to work so they rely on their husbands for everything. They are also shunned by their communities and villages and family due to stigma and honour. So they have nowhere to turn to if things go wrong.
This is why most just stay quiet and put up with everything. Also it seems normal to them because that is what their mothers did and their grandmothers.
Those few women that do speak out or think about taking some sort of drastic step are usually put off by being cut off by their family, because nobody wants to be alone without their families over there.
I know this is hard to understand for most here but that's how it is.
The film is actually quite soft, probably because the makers knew it would be seen all over the world, the reality is a lot harsher.
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