Leila

Rating:
Summary: A modern marriage destroyed by tradition
Review: Leila is a startlingly well-acted tale of a happily married, upper middle class young couple in Tehran, who have everything they need, except for a child. The beautiful young Leila is very much in love with her husband, Reza, but their efforts to have a child are not successful. Reza is a man torn between his love for his wife, and his respect and duty to his family to produce an heir. Reza's mother interferes in his marriage, manipulating Leila into allowing her husband to take a second wife so that he may have a son.

Leila is an incredibly strong woman, with tremendous inner strength and character. Reza is weak, and his mother is manipulative and inconsiderate. The actress playing the mother-in-law is incredibly gifted. This film will make you angry and sad, you will feel heartbreak for Leila and also tremendous respect. Working within the confines of contemporary Iran, the director presents as intimate a portrait of the couple he is allowed to. Both painful and hopeful, this is an incredibly well-acted and directed film, filled with emotion and multi-dimensional characters.

Rating:
Summary: The conflict between living your own life and someone else's
Review: LEILA is a story about a young woman who after she gets married, finds out she cannot have children. Her husband continually reassures her that he doesn't care, that he loves her anyway. But her mother in law continually nags her about pushing her son to take another wife (it's an Iranian story, so they're Muslim) so that he can have an heir. So she does so, and he doesn't want to because he knows it's his mother's idea, not his wife's. But finally he relents and takes another wife, whom Leila approved of, yet when he marries the second wife and brings her home, Leila flees back to her parents home feeling she's been betrayed. It's an ironic reaction seeing as she's the one who pushed him to do it in the first place, but that's part of the conflicts in the film. I saw this movie in the theater. I thought it was a great story. The really good Iranian films I've seen besides this one included CHILDREN OF HEAVEN, TWO WOMEN, and CHILDREN OF PARADISE, all have in common a great emphasis on characterization. They're all about people and how they deal with the situations they're in. There's no special effects, no expensive sets, and the stories typically don't have neat happy endings, which makes them very real and heartfelt to watch.

Rating:
Summary: Tragic
Review: Leila is a tragedy. In other words, we sense from the onset where this film is going. And there is nothing at all that will change the outcome -- it is destiny. So why wonder why Reza can't call a stop or how his mother could be so cruel? Leila has the answer: it is her fate to be have endless patience; it was written on her forehead from her birth.

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.

Rating:
Summary: Tragic
Review: Leila is a tragedy. In other words, we sense from the onset where this film is going. And there is nothing at all that will change the outcome -- it is destiny. So why wonder why Reza can't call a stop or how his mother could be so cruel? Leila has the answer: it is her fate to be have endless patience; it was written on her forehead from her birth.

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.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating movie
Review: Mehrjui manages to convey the intimacy between the couple within the constraints of filming in an Islamic society within the social codes. For example, none of the men and women within the family ever touch each other. Scenes of them cooking, laughing, enjoying each others companionship convey intimacy- but no touching!

Unfortunately, there are scenes that demand he comfort her (finding out she is sterile), but since they are husband and wife only on film, he cannot offer a comforting hug- making him seem harsh.

Another not-true-to-life detail,one can relax hijab in one's own home and with family members. The ladies here never do. Covered head to toe even at home by themselves or at family gatherings.

True to form: the importance of sons. The importance of mothers to their sons.

A famous hadith: "O Messenger of Allah! to whom should I show kindness? He replied: Your mother, next your mother, next your mother, and then comes your father..."

Rating:
Summary: A Truly Great Film
Review: My wife and I were riveted from the first minute to the last, and there are very few films about which we can say this. You enter the lives of a couple and their families, and you will not soon forget them. In the best sense of great literature, the protagonists are parochial but the subject matter is thoroughly universal. Any couple that has ever discussed the question of whether marital love needs children will especially enjoy this deep, powerful film. The acting is so good, you begin to think you have entered real people's lives. In a sense you have.

Rating:
Summary: Simply the BEST
Review: One of the 10 best movies I have ever seen. I see something new everytime I watch it. This is a masterpiece made by Jafar Panahi. He proved that you don't need special effects, digital gadgets or spend tons of money to make a good movie, George Lucas should watch this movie and learn few things from Jafar Panahi.

Rating:
Summary: Another Great Iranian film
Review: One wonders why so many great films are being made by Iranian Directors. With all focus on Iran as a confining religious state, one forgets that it s a country rich in cultural history. This is the story of a woman who can not bear children and the relentless schemes of the mother-in-law to break up the marriage. Leila slowly succumbs to the constant pressure and allows or rather prods her husband to seek out a second wife. The director does not allow the audience to easily pick heros and villians. With the exception of the mother-in-law (who one never likes) each character if filled with strength and weekness. One is intrigued and can't wait to see how the husband and wife will confront each scene. Part of the greatness of this film is that it portrays the universality of human feelings. While we get a peek into everyday life in Iran, we get to know that individuals are the same everywhere.

Rating:
Summary: Leila is an absolute masterpiece
Review: Reza and leila, an attractive and affluent young couple deeply in love and recently married, discover that leila is unable to conceive. Invoking tradition, Reza's mother convinces her daughter-in-law that Reza must, out of necessity, take a secound wife to produce an heir. This provocative and eloquent story, from "Iran's longest runing cinematic master" (Village Voice), is a stunning portrayal of the clash between tradition and modern marriage; between manipulation and the power of love.

This is an outstanding and compelling film with moving, superlative performances by the cast. The film chronicles the marriage of a young, Iranian couple, Leila and Reza, in modern day Tehran. They are affluent, attractive and very much in love. All is well, until they realize that Leila is barren and unable to bear children. While Leila and Reza appear to have come to terms with this, Reza's mother has not. She begins an almost daily harangue on the issue of her only son taking a second wife, a move which is perfectly legal in Iran.

The mother-in-law does not let up, appealing to Leila's sense of tradition and family obligation. Though Reza insists that he does not care if he has children, he does not stop his mother's constant harangue of Leila. Slowly but surely, Leila's resistance to the idea of a second wife begins to erode, and her mother-in-law ultimately convinces her that Reza must have a child of his blood, and as Leila cannot meet this obligation, a second wife is a must.

The film takes the viewer through the process of the selection of the second wife and Leila's role in that process. One sees the personal devastation that this causes her. One senses Reza's ambivalence about the matter and his reluctance in taking a second wife. Yet, such is the power of love and deft manipulation that both Leila and Reza continue with actions that further this cause, until the moment of truth arrives. The reality is one which is nigh unbearable.

This is an absolutely mesmerizing film. Leila Hatami, as Leila, gives a beautifully moving, well nuanced, award calibre performance. One feels the depth of her distress over this situation, and the viewer's heart breaks for her, as her own heart is breaking. Ali Mossafa is terrific as the ineffectual Reza, who is unable to stand up to his mother.

The love between Leila and Reza is palpable, and it shines throughout the film, even though the two do not physically touch during the film, as it is forbidden for them to do so publicly. Leila is shrouded in traditional style, as are all the women in the film. Yet, interestingly enough, the women are very independent, assertive, and opinionated. It is an iteresting melange of the modern with the traditional.

The film is an eloquent portrayal of the clash between the modern marriage and tradition in a country that is in a state of flux. It is an incisive look at a culture in which a second wife is an option for consideration and at the potential impact of the exercise of such an option.

All in all, this is a fantastic film that opens the window onto another culture, so different to ours in so many ways, yet so alike in others. This is a beautifully wrought film that should be seen by as many viewers as is possible. It is an absolute masterpiece. Bravo!

Rating:
Summary: A woman's hard choice in tradition-bound Iran
Review: This 1996 Iranian film, which was brought to American audiences in 1999, was written and directed by Dariush Mehrjui who was trained in filmmaking at UCLA and has gone on to produce many outstanding films in his native land. "Leila" is one of them, a drama that raises some very interesting socially conscious questions. In Farsi, with English subtitles, it puts the viewer right into the heart of Teheran. And right into the hearts and minds of Leila and Razi, a young affluent married couple.

There is no doubt that they are in love and their life is a happy one. They live in a modern, well-furnished house with a huge refrigerator and abundant wonderful food. They laugh a lot and exchange loving looks. And declare their love to each other all the time. He's a successful businessman and they get along well with their huge extended families of relatives. She's a beautiful woman, with huge dark eyes and fine features. Yes, she wears a black chador at all times, but I came to see it as simply the way that women dress in Iran.

Problem is that, in spite of modern medical techniques, Leila remains barren. Her husband Razi says he doesn't care. That he loves her just the way she is and doesn't want children. But then there's her controlling mother-in-law, who starts to bully Leila into accepting a second wife. In Iranian culture, polygamy is accepted, even though everyone around Leila, with the exception of the mother-in-law, is against this "second-wife" idea.

I found myself holding my breath as the pressures on Leila mounted and tensions increased. I couldn't stop watching as events unfolded. I felt all the conflicting emotions that Leila felt, as the story grew more and more intense. The decision was Leila's and she was given free will to make her choice. Over and over again, this concept of making a conscious choice was emphasized. That is what made this film great. I loved it.