Leila

Distributed by First Run/Icarus Films, 32 Court St., 21st Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201; 800-876-1710Produced by Dariush MehrjouiA Film by Dariush Mehrjui1997, VHS, color, 102 min. The story of Leila, a young upper class wife in modern Iran, which illuminates the conflict between old and new ideas of family life in many traditional societies today. Leila and Reza are young newlyweds, happily in love, from loving families, when they discover that she cannot have children. Although her husband tells her that he can be happy without children, Leila feels that it cannot be true. At her birthday celebration at the home of her husband's family, all the gifts she receives are also for him. Although the viewer might expect Leila to resist the process, she actively encourages it, heartbreakingly participating in the destruction of her own happiness. Dariush Mehrjui is one of Iran's most highly regarded filmmakers. His other films include The Cycle (1976), The Pear Tree, and Hamoon (1990). Even today, Mehrjui's work is better known in Iran than in the West, featuring a more sophisticated and urbane view of modern Iranian life than other Iranian films seen in the U.S. Recommended for cinema studies and area studies collections in colleges and universities.