FILM: Un vent de libert̩ Рan Iranian woman fights for her liberty

4 August 2017.

UN VENT DE LIBERTÉ (INVERSION) ***1/2 (vo Farsi)

Niloofar, a young, attractive woman in her mid-thirties, never married, lives with her elderly mother in Tehran. She has a flourishing clothing business and a budding romance going on. There is also a brother and his family living near by, and a sister who is married. They are a typical close-knit, middle-class family living in this huge metropolis whose dense pollution is becoming increasingly detrimental to the mother’s health.

Shown and well-received at the 2016 Cannes film festival, this Iranian film by Behnam Behzadi is a study of the gradual revolt of a young woman against her family’s plans for her. Without really consulting her, they have assumed that as she is single, it should be Niloofar that must move to the Caspian region for the benefit of their mother’s condition.

But Niloofar has her life in Tehran, is becoming more involved with the new love there, and would want her siblings to also help in their mother’s care. This is not a specifically Iranian problem, but rather that of old society versus the needs of the individual – man or woman. With this film, Behzadi touches on various Iranian issues – the environment, the place of unmarried women in family and society, and a fresh look at a free woman within Islamic mores. His angle is as courageous as Niloofar’s resistance.

Superb **** Very Good *** Good ** Mediocre * Miserable – no stars

By Neptune

Neptune Ravar Ingwersen reviews film extensively for publications in Switzerland. She views 4 to 8 films a week and her aim is to sort the wheat from the chaff for readers.

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