Samira Makhmalbaf was inspired to make this film after reading in the newspaper about two little girls, Zahra and Massoumeh, who had been locked up by their mentally unstable parents for the entirety of their development. Once the girls were freed, Makhmalbaf was eager to adapt their story to film. Most astounding to me, even more than the harrowing true story of the film was the fact that the director used the real life victims as the principal actors in her film (much to my surprise, this is something many Iranian directors chose to do). The plot follows the girls release from captivity and exploration of the outside world (the streets of Tehran) for the first time. A sub-plot follows the social worker’s interactions with the girls’ father as he attempts to justify his actions on the basis of his religious beliefs—mainly the belief that the girls were kept at home to keep them safe from the eyes of men. There is a strong criticism of patriarchal beliefs within Islam throughout the film, primarily the father’s notion that the daughters are better in captivity than they are living out their free will. It is crucial to understand that the father chose to keep his daughters physically and socially isolated to the extent that they have become disabled (they both walk with a limp, they can barely speak, and it is unclear whether they completely understand language) all for the purpose of protecting his honor. The film is incredibly poignant in the moments where the father is morally and religiously justifying his actions—he seems almost powerless against his faith and is in many ways a prisoner himself. When Zahra and Massoumeh are free to explore, the first lessons they learn are about money. This is significant because even though the girls are physically free, they cannot immediately enjoy the things they crave (apples, ice cream, a new watch). It seems that they are perpetually barred from their desires, not only because they can’t communicate properly, but because they were born into a very poor family. While the father was, for eleven years, so concerned about the girls complicating his life, he in the meantime complicated theirs much worse, and irreversibly. It must be said that there is a great deal of hope and joy present in this film, despite the themes of abuse. Zahra and Massoumeh, in their naivety, are simmultaneously liberated from the ideologies which may otherwise oppress them or crush their wonderful spirits and curiosities about the world.
Good effort!
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