THE DAY I BECAME A WOMAN

THEMES AND CONCEPTS OF IRANIAN CINEMA

• Neo-realism/improvisation

• Dogma 95

• Women struggles/position of women in Iranian cinema

• Iranian society/domestic settings

• Sharia Law/ministry of culture

• Western target audience/festival films

• Rebellion

• National pride

STORYLINE OF THE FILM

This is the tale of 3 stories all of which show the social struggles for women in Iran

The opening story of a girls 9th Birthday and that she is attempting to outrun time and carry on playing with he friend who is a male and therefore as a women which she is becoming at noon and therefore will no longer talk to him

2nd is the story of a women who is divorced on by her husband simply for riding a bike

3rd story is the old women who is refelcting her life and how she is attempting to change her social states via her personal position

THE POETIC NATURE OF THE FILM• Through out the film there is the theme of escaping

• This is shown by the scarf at the starting shot which suggest sailing way

• The women in the middle is cycling to escape the social confinements and attempting to break free form the social norm

• There is also the surreal floating away of the women at the end with her attempting to sail away form her life and start a new

• We get given a long draw out shot of the women sailing away which slowly tacks up to show that there is a possablity of escape

• However there is so far no escape form social normality in Iran

ENSEMBLE CAST

• There is the use of an ensemble cast in this film, there I is no one leader in the film this has multiple functions

• It allows for several stories to be told

• It shows that this is a problem for all of Iran not just a few people

• This is common in Iran not in a localised area

• It also shows that this is a problem for just Iran there is not a problem for the whole world

WOMEN STRUGGLES-OPENING

The start of the film establishes the idea that becoming a women in Iran is a serious issue and that they now must follow new rules

We see the girl attempt to play with he friend and we get a constant repeat shot of the stick in the sand that will show when she becomes a women and therefore no longer be free

WOMEN STRUGGLES-MIDDLE

• We are show as a women not having any rights due to being chased down and divorced by her husband for simply for ridding a bike

• There is the slow motion shot of the horses hooves shows the dominanating factor of male dominance in iranian society

• There is nothing that the women can say to not allow for the divorce to stop

• She is said to be ridding the ‘devil bike’

WOMEN STRUGGLES-ENDING

• In the end we are not shown a physical struggle like that of the start or the middle scenes, it shows use what life is like for women in Iran

• This shows the women trying to change he social states by the items that she buys, but she has little success in changing this status

• It shows as she was born as a women she can not ever change her social stance

• This is a politcial statement showing the suppressive nature of Iranian government

NATIONAL PRIDE

• The national pride is shown in this film by in many different ways

• One way is that there is by there being no conversation that outright goes against Iran the issues that are tackled are only show the governance of the country at fault

• Another way that this is done is via the tracking shots of Iranian landscape that shows Iran to look beautiful not a dangerous war land as it is seen to be

SHARIA LAW

• The whole of this film is made to show the dictatorship of sharia law

• It shows a little girl who is no more then 9 years old being dictated to on what she can and can’t do because she is becoming the supposed age of a women according to Sharia Law

• It show a women powerless over the males of society having no say in her life unable to prevent her husband from divorcing her due to the power given to males via the use of sharia law

• It also shows a women unable to escape the social confidents that is dictated to women via the implementation of sharia law