The director of 'The White Balloon', Jafar Panahi, also made 'The Mirror' with the same leading actress, Aida Mohammadkhani. Of course, lots of Iranian films have cute children, and at the start of this film Mohammadkhani looks especially cute with a cast on her arm. But in 'The Mirror', the sentimentality is done with, the script is jarred open, and director and leading actress, adult and child, perform an eerie game on the streets of Tehran, a game of dare, of catching and letting fall, of risk and indifference.
In many countries reknowned for their cute children, the children themselves can have extremely hard lives. This sentimentality about childhood does nothing to alleviate the suffering, and at worst provides a pretty aesthetic frame for exploitation. But then, in adult eyes, the poor child can only play the picturesque victim.
But what happens if the child writes the scenario themselves? 'The Mirror' is a fascinating bridge to Panahi's third film 'The Circle', as piercing and unexploitative film as it's possible to imagine. I believe he has spoken himself about 'The White Balloon', 'The Mirror' and 'The Circle' forming a vague trilogy.
It's a pity that 'The Mirror' doesn't get talked about so much; I don't think it's even been released in England. I bought it from amazon in the States.
No comments:
Post a Comment