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Mim mesle Madar - M for Mother (2006) Directed by: Rasul Molagholipur Date of birth: 1955, Tehran, Iran Writing credits: Rasul Molagholipoor Music: Ariya Aziminezhad Country: Iran Language: Farsi Color: Color Released: 2006 Genre: Drama |
The movie seems to be split into two parts. The first is about the pregnant mother and her lovely husband, and a seemingly great life. Until (obviously there is a “until”), the doctor tells them that the child might be born retarded, a spazz, a half-human mongoloid. You see, back in the Iran-Iraq war, our young mother was a nurse helping our soldiers, and they got attacked by chemical warfare, and while she seemed to be okay now, the effects are long-term.
Back to the movie. There is a lot of friction between the couple, with the husband wanting to abort the fuck out of the baby, because he doesn’t want something looking like ET to be his son. They do try to, but mothers being angels, she decides to have the baby, and fathers being dicks, divorces her.
Ten years later, the baby has grown into a handsome, smart, young lad. He has to wear some weird machine thing on his back, to breath at times, and he walks with bracers on his leg, but otherwise, he’s perfectly fine. Which is, of course, an easy solution on the director’s part. The audience is sympathetic, but we don’t REALLY want to see some deformed young lad drooling on himself for the duration of the movie. We want someone who is articulate and cute, and we do get that. Plus, he plays the violin ... 
Although, and this is my Shyamalan twist to this review, I did actually enjoy the movie. It might be sentimental to the extreme (EXTREME!!!), but its heart is in the right place. An ode to motherhood is sweet, and I can be more forgiving to it than some sentimental bullshit about teenage lovers. When the father comes back after ten years, he isn’t shown as some evil character, but merely a weak one. He defends himself by claiming that everyone has limits, and that is his limit, and he doesn’t have it in him to be able to look at his handicapped child in the eyes. 
And there is also a Christian neighbor, which is always rare in movies from the Islamic Republic of Iran. In one scene, the boy talks to the Christian neighbor about Jesus, and wonders if it is true that he had no father. The Christian man confirms it, and tells the story, and the boy wonders if Jesus ever longed for a father while growing up. Yes, it may sound like bullshit dialogue in this review, but it has a certain warmth to it, that you can’t ignore. (Summary taken from here)
Watch "M like Mother (2006)"
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