Women Without Men (2009)

Against the tumultuous backdrop of Iran's 1953 CIA-backed coup d'état, the destinies of four women converge in a beautiful orchard garden, where they find independence, solace and companionship.

Directors:

Shirin Neshat, Shoja Azari

Writers:

Shoja Azari, Shirin Neshat (screenplay)

Stars:

Shabnam Toloui, Pegah Ferydoni, Arita Shahrzad

7 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shabnam Toloui	...	Munis
Pegah Ferydoni	...	Faezeh
Arita Shahrzad	...	Farrokhlagha
Orsolya Tóth	...	Zarin (as Orsi Toth)
Ahmad Hamed	...	Gardener
Navid Navid	...	Ali (as Navíd Akhavan)
Bijan Daneshmand	...	Abbas
Essa Zahir	...	Amir Khan
Tahmoures Tehrani	...	General Sadri
Abbas Bakhtiari	...	Singer
Mehdi Moinzadeh	...	Communist Leader
Farhad Payar	...	Leading Officer
Shahrnoush Parsipour	...	Madame Pari
Said Oveissi	...	Hassan
Mithra Zahedi	...	Nahid

Storyline

Against the tumultuous backdrop of Iran's 1953 CIA-backed coup d'état, the destinies of four women converge in a beautiful orchard garden, where they find independence, solace and companionship.

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Plot Keywords:

rape | iran | f rated | 1953 iranian coup d'etat | police crackdown | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Hungary]

Country:

Germany Austria France Italy Ukraine Morocco

Language:

Persian English

Release Date:

12 March 2010 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Women Without Men

Filming Locations:

Casablanca, Morocco

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$14,404, 11 April 2010, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$175,995, 13 June 2010

Company Credits

Production Co:

Essential Filmproduktion GmbH, Coop99 Filmproduktion, Coproduction Office

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min 95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

The Azan that we hear through the film is Moazzenzade Ardabili's version which was recorded in 1955 while this movie takes place in 1953.

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Connections

References Mogambo (1953)

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Soundtracks

Chachme Nast
Written and performed by Molook Zarrabi

User Reviews

Interesting subject, but zero focus

"Women Without Men" centers on the lives of four women in 1950's Iran. It offers an interesting view and it's not without its good points, but in general is out of focus, withers, and feels way too long, even if it clocks at just a little over an hour and a half.

The story follows how family, friends, society, repress the lives of four women, and how they react and how they try to break free from the limitations and lack of liberty their environment throws on them. It is kind of dreamlike in its exposure of its ideas, and some situations are more like drawings of a feeling than a real plot developing. It is almost white and black, which suits well with the bleak spirit of the story, which is quite gloomy in general, and it looks quite good. The actors, in general, do quite a good job, even if the material is a little bit thin.

Sadly, the director tries to encompass too much and show too many things, and the films paddles and loses itself. It doesn't help that it has been directed in a very languid style, with little action and long shots. I am not expecting Michael Bay's style to pop by in these kind of movies, but slow can be too slow. And this is one of those cases. On top of that, the story per se is not very original, as we have seen these kind of situations before (for example, the wife who married and meets again the love of her youth), so the movie is not very original either.

A good effort, but kind of a misfire.