Film Aesthetics Assignment-2

By

Shashwata Datta

078

MMC(AV)-2011

Submitted to

Prof. Ajit Duara

Critical analysis of the film “Leila”, by Dariush Mehrjui

The Director, Dariush Mehrjui was one of the pioneers of the Iranian new wave cinema. In fact
he set off the new wave movement with his film, “The Cow” (1969). Iranian new wave was a
movement in which innovative art films with highly political and philosophical tones and poetic
language were made. Mehrjui is regarded to be one of the intellectual directors of Iranian
cinema. Most of his films are inspired by literature and adopted based on Iranian and foreign
novels and plays.

“Leila” (1996), claimed by many to be his finest work, is a melodrama about an urban, upper-
middle-class couple who learn that the wife is unable to bear children.

Leila and Reza are a modern Iranian couple, recently married and sharing a blissful life.
However, as the film takes off it is learnt that Leila is unable to conceive. And as is expected
from an orthodox Iranian family, Reza's mother insists that he, as the only son, must have
children and thus must get a second wife, despite Reza's insistence that he does not want
children, and thus does not want to get a second wife. He constantly refuses the idea and yet
his mother champions it. Leila gets caught between the two worlds; elated at spending time
with Reza one moment and torn apart by his nagging mother the next. What ensues is an
extraordinary tale, as monumentally beautiful as it is delicate. The manner in which Mehrjui
paints his canvas, the colours and the forms portrayed are wrought with subtle meanings and
symbolism.

First of all, the film has no moral standing as to what is right, and what is wrong. There is a
certain ambiguity to the entire narrative. All through the film it is the Point of view of Leila,
which the film sticks to. The film very subtly breaks the western world view of Islamic
Fundamentalist Iran, a supposedly male dominated, orthodox society. The Iran which Mehrjui
shows is a modern Iran, a progressive Iran, through a couple very much in love with each other,
not bothered with the prospect of not bearing an heir. Though the older generation is shown to
be orthodox in these matters, yet it is a setup dominated by the will of one determined old
woman (Reza’s mother). I.e. a somewhat matriarchal setup of a family, in a country where one
would expect families to be patriarchal throughout. Thus Mehrjui, first of all breaks all
stereotypes, an outsider may have regarding Iran.

Many Mis en Scene props have been used throughout the film to portray various concepts, the
Sholleh Zard making together is symbolic of the love that blooms in the couple before marriage.
The constant watering of the potted plant in certain scenes as a symbol for her attempts to
conceive a child. The cordless telephone, is one of the vital tools of communication for the
couple to the world outside their home. In fact without the phone, the film would not have
developed as it did. Also the pearl necklace was a symbol of the bribe that the mother in law
tried to give to Leila, so that she agrees to coming of a second wife. The breaking of the
necklace, a sign of her inner defiance to the mother in law’s demands and also symbolic of her
own shattered state of mind. The tea kettle overflowing in one of the conversations with Reza’s
mother is symbolic of her reaching her own saturation and suffocation. And also all throughout
the film, food has played a major role in defining the mood of the moment. If Leila and Reza are
happy, they cook or go out and have good food.

Throughout the film the director also experiments with lighting in various ways to portray
various subtle messages. In some scenes there are transitions where the frames are overlaid
with the colours red or yellow. Mehrjui plays with shadows as well in several scenes in order to
portray the character’s mood or condition.

Sounds such as the telephone ring, as an ominous sound, changing the entire mood of the
scene with its accompanying silence, putting an end to the couple’s happiness whenever it
rings. The words of the mother in law in one scene and the doctor in another transform to a
cavernous echo, portraying how hard it is for Leila bear those words.

Mehrjui has beautifully created a masterpiece, a very complex story to tell, as it has various
interpretations to it depending on, who is interpreting and where it is being interpreted. He
achieved this feat using multiple layers of storytelling and visual and audio language.