Educational Media Reviews Online

This is a long, hard look at a young man's misery, but a thought-provoking one. Nazar loves Reyhaneh, but gives in to social and familial pressure to divorce her, because of rumors of her mother being a prostitute. He is determined to pay her her dowry and her divorce settlement, and ends up trying to catch snakes in the desert to make enough money. He learns as best he can from a bitter and uncooperative old man. Nazar suffers a snakebite, but the old man (also an exile because of marriage issues) amputates his finger-- his ring finger-- and saves his life.

This film would produce fruitful discussion in several areas. Nazar struggles with ethical and religious questions: what should he do, and why is God against him? There are social issues: through coarse remarks from Nazar's friend (about visiting Reyhaneh after the divorce), the filmmaker raises the issue of society's lopsided insistence on female purity. Even though this is unjust to women, it ruins the lives of Nazar and the old man as well. And then there are the storytelling and artistic aspects to discuss: in one scene a horse is tied down and injected with snake venom to force it to produce antibodies, in a clear parallel to Nazar.

The film isrecommended for courses on Iran, film, or society's regulation of marriage and sex.

Awards:
Asia-Pacific Film Festival: Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor; Moscow International Film Festival: Best Director; Fajr Film Festival, Special Jury Award

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