In "Body of State", Golshifteh was great as an unbelievable native girlfriend of an American spy. Today, she is still great as an unbelievable abused "afghan" (?) wife. So her talent is never questioned (all the more that she may us forget that with her long monologue, she is actually alone) but it's her characters that have defects.
In "Syngue Sabour", her father beats her, he gives her sister to pay a debt, she is forced wife, her husband is gone the wedding day, he is impotent so she has children from another man to escape repudiation, he is badly wounded at the war so she has to look after him, she met a stuttering lover, and finally, she lives in the middle of a war. Well, it's too much for a young mother and finally her story isn't credible.
In addition, her character is full of contradictions: does she love her children or are they a burden? If her husband is so bad, why all her care? Has she fall with the soldier or does she plays with him ? And what about her final fate ?
Worst, the world she lives in isn't explained: You can't figure where, when and what happens. The city itself isn't shown: you don't know where lives the aunt (or what she does), where's the house, the pharmacy. You are stuck in this bare room with its cave and its garden.
In a way, with such a twisted tale and without exposition, everything is done to break the emotion.
For those who would like to find a cry for Muslim woman, it's a disappointment because as it's too much on a side, it lacks a balanced truth. And it's not about spirituality per se but rather gender relationships in another culture.
But, it's not totally crap either: Goldshifteh carries the whole movie on her courageous shoulders. She is intense as she experiences a hard life without any comfort and succeeds nonetheless to find happiness and peace. In a way, with such plot holes and exaggeration, the story could pass for a fairy tale except that it's not for kid but rather adult oriented as it's desire that's exposed.
In "Syngue Sabour", her father beats her, he gives her sister to pay a debt, she is forced wife, her husband is gone the wedding day, he is impotent so she has children from another man to escape repudiation, he is badly wounded at the war so she has to look after him, she met a stuttering lover, and finally, she lives in the middle of a war. Well, it's too much for a young mother and finally her story isn't credible.
In addition, her character is full of contradictions: does she love her children or are they a burden? If her husband is so bad, why all her care? Has she fall with the soldier or does she plays with him ? And what about her final fate ?
Worst, the world she lives in isn't explained: You can't figure where, when and what happens. The city itself isn't shown: you don't know where lives the aunt (or what she does), where's the house, the pharmacy. You are stuck in this bare room with its cave and its garden.
In a way, with such a twisted tale and without exposition, everything is done to break the emotion.
For those who would like to find a cry for Muslim woman, it's a disappointment because as it's too much on a side, it lacks a balanced truth. And it's not about spirituality per se but rather gender relationships in another culture.
But, it's not totally crap either: Goldshifteh carries the whole movie on her courageous shoulders. She is intense as she experiences a hard life without any comfort and succeeds nonetheless to find happiness and peace. In a way, with such plot holes and exaggeration, the story could pass for a fairy tale except that it's not for kid but rather adult oriented as it's desire that's exposed.