It
is not precisely finished, but it makes a cogent and compelling statement. Mania Akbari started shooting an intensely
personal Cassavetes-style examination of a disintegrating marriage, but halted
the production mid-way through when the Iranian government started arresting
many of her prominent filmmaking colleagues.
Relocating perhaps indefinitely to the UK, Akbari reshaped her footage
into a more experimental feeling long short film or short feature. There are rough edges to the resulting From Tehran to London (trailer here), but they were
both a choice and a necessity. A fascinating
work on multiple levels, Akbari’s film screens during the 2013 Noor Iranian Film Festival in Los Angeles.
Ava
is a poet and an artist who feels unfulfilled in her marriage to the well-heeled
Ashkan. However, the way they bicker and
grouse like a prematurely old couple suggests there must have been some feeling
there originally. They certainly know
each other very well, but neither suspects the other harbors deeper feelings
for their trusted house servant, Maryam.
Eventually,
scandal will shake their household, but viewers will not see it. Instead, Akbari resorts to straight out
telling us what would have happened.
Obviously, there are all kinds of abrupt tonal shifts and sudden
temporal jumps. Akbari hardly had the
luxury of returning for pick-up transitionals. Yet, her kit-bashing techniques speak volumes
regarding the wider circumstances.
Frankly,
from what viewers can tell, the story of Ava and Ashkan could only be
considered political around the margins.
Certainly, it would have (and does) address issues of gender roles and
sexuality in contemporary Iran, but the Albee-like marriage is the centerpiece. In fact, the initial scenes of the couple
sparring are surprisingly grabby. There
is real bite to the chemistry shared by Neda Amiri and Bijan Daneshmand. Through the moody lightning and suggestive
sound of rain outside, Akbari and her crew create a sense of foreboding that is
unusually eerie.
Although
quite accomplished as a director, Akbari is still probably best known as the
nearly unseen driver in Abbas Kiarostami’s Ten.
In front of the camera, she is quite convincing as Ava’s more conventional worrywart
sister, Roya. She also deserves tremendous credit for her commitment to free
expression, starting the film with a dedication to: “all those filmmakers in
Iran, who have served a prison sentence and the ones who are still in prison.” That alone is worth seeing on the big screen.