The Iranian film Boutique, directed by Hamid Nematoolah, appears to be a nonpolitical story about the owner of a shopping mall clothing store, Shapouri (played by Reza Rooygari), and one particular lovesick employee, Jahan (played by Mohammad-Reza Golzar). Jahan lives with four men, who are not particularly pleasant companions, and he envies a friend who is planning a wedding. One day an attractive sixteen-year-old girl, Eti (played by Golshifte Farahani), comes to the store, tries on a pair of jeans but lacks the money to make a purchase. Jahan is so attracted to Eti that on the following day he offers to give her the pair of jeans if she promises to pay in installments. Eventually, he pursues Eti amorously; although she hides her real situation and motives, Jahan is blind to her scheming. Some of Jahan's friends warn him, but he plays the fool. Eti is trying to accumulate enough capital, by any means that she can, to go abroad; her parents have kicked her out because of her misdeeds, which evidently include selling herself for sex. The reality dawns on Jahan when Shapouri admits that he has slept with her for a tidy sum. By keeping women so inaccessible to men in Iran today, the film appears to say, young men are frustrated, and unscrupulous women can take advantage. MH
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