Iran’s so-called “temporary marriages” are
exactly that—marital unions that are good only for a finite pre-determined
time. Before they expire, they are considered completely valid by the Islamist
powers that be. If you think some Iranians enter into these contracts to facilitate
a little action, you would be right. Unfortunately, temporary marriages are
temporarily the best option for a desperate single mother in Ida Panahandeh’s Nahid (trailer
here), which screens during the 2016 Palm Springs International Film Festival.
Nahid’s dirty, smelly heroin addicted first
husband Ahmad was a mistake, but according to Iranian law, he still retains all
parental rights to their obnoxious young son Amir Reza. Ahmad has magnanimously
granted her custody on the condition she maintain a chaste single life. She has
fallen in love with Masoud Javonroodi, the widower hotel owner for whom she
temps. Unfortunately, she cannot act on his advances for fear of losing Amir
Reza, but her own precarious financial situation is simply not sustainable.
When Nahid finally levels with Javonroodi, he
convinces her to marry him in a formal ceremony, but only sign papers for a
temporary marriage. They will continue to re-up until his lawyers successfully
press for a custody hearing. However, Nahid insists they must keep their
arrangement secret from the petulant Amir Reza. Indeed, he is the weak link in
this otherwise impressive non-ideological, small “f” feminist drama. A mother’s
love is one thing, but Nahid really ought to just sell him to the circus.
When your country’s family law statutes continually
provide inspiration for searing social issues films, it ought to tell you
something is wrong, but the message hasn’t trickled up yet in Iran. Both in
terms of theme and quality, Nahid sits
easily alongside Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation, Reza Mirkarimi’s Today,
and Rakshan Bani-Etemad’s Tales. It
is also interested to see Iranian life away from Tehran, up near the Caspian
Sea, much as in Safi Yazdanian’s What’s the Time in Your World.
Sareh Bayat does tour-de-force work as the
title character and Pejman Bazeghi is deeply compelling as Javonroodi. They each
make regrettable mistakes and act rather ghastly at times, because they are so
darned human. Both give remarkably well modulated performances. Navid Mohammad Zedah’s
Ahmad is also messily complicated and tragically self-aware, but the less said
about the kid, the better.
