Another View 2002 / Bemani / Iran 2002
Bemani is a story of love. The love of three girls for a life which is socially so cruel that, in order to escape it, they don’t hesitate to seek out the most extreme solutions – violence against themselves or even suicide. But Bemani will not surrender to fate or the cruelties which surround her.
Bemani is a story of love. The love of three girls for a life which is socially so cruel that, in order to escape it, they don’t hesitate to seek out the most extreme solutions – violence against themselves or even suicide. Bemani lives with her parents and siblings in abject poverty. Their sole means of salvation is Bemani’s engagement to the owner of the building, an older man. Bemani submits, agreeing to marry him, but afterward she sees how her girlfriends become victims of their fathers’ and brothers’ prejudice and violence. One father forbids his daughter to study medicine because it would bring shame on the whole family, and the girl deliberately burns her face in desperation. Another kills her own brother because he suspects that she’s carrying on with a soldier. Bemani chooses to resist her fate and the cruelties which surround her; she will leave her husband....
97 min / Black & white, 35 mm
Director Dariush Mehrjui
/ Screenplay Dariush Mehrjui, Vahideh Mohammadifar
/ Dir. of Photography Bahram Badakhshani
/ Music Mohammad Reza Darvishi
/ Editor Dariush Mehrjui, Mastaneh Mohajer
/ Producer Mohammad Nikbin, Tahmineh Milani, Dariush Mehrjui
/ Cast Masoumeh Bakhshi, Shadi Heydari, Neda Aghaei, Mohammad Habibian, Turan Yaghuti
Dariush Mehrjui (b. 1939, Tehran) studied philosophy at the University of California at Los Angeles, and started his film career upon returning home. His feature debut came in 1967 with Diamond 33. He then made one of the most remarkable movies in Iranian film history, The Cow (l969) - FIPRESCI Prize at the l97l Venice IFF. He has also written or co-written most of his films. Filmography: Diamond 33 (1967 – FIPRESCI Prize at the 1971 Venice IFF), Mr. Simpleton (1970), The Postman (1972 – Best Film at the Rotterdam IFF, among others), The Cycle (1978), Hamoon (1989), Banu (1991), Sara (1991 – Best Actress to Niki Karimi at the 1993 San Sebastian IFF, among others), Pari (1994), Leila (1996), The Pear Tree (1998), Mix (1999), Bemani (2002).
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