Leila

Leila and Reza are newly married and happy. A test establishes that she cannot have children. Reza does not mind. His mother does: she says her son's line must continue and proposes a second wife. Leila refuses at first. Then she begins going to see the candidates herself and persuading her husband. Dariush Mehrjui writes and directs. Leila Hatami plays Leila and Ali Mosaffa plays Reza. The idea at the centre is how pressure works. Nobody forces Leila; the mother in law speaks gently, the husband objects, and the decision finally comes out of Leila's own mouth. The narrative does not ask whether that is really a choice; it shows it. The telling proceeds through Leila's interior voice and we see the events only through her perception. Polygamy is legally possible in Iran and the film treats it not as an exception but as an available option; the production was widely argued over there. Leila Hatami became known through the part, and she and Ali Mosaffa later married in life. Mehrjui is among the founders of the Iranian new wave and compresses social criticism here into a domestic narrative. Who it is for: viewers who like Iranian cinema and films about pressure inside a family. Who it is not for: the pace is slow, the narrative stays in one house, and the ending offers no resolution.