Women's
Prison (Zendan-e Zanan), directed by Manijeh Hekmat, is
perhaps the most daring film from Iran in recent years.
The plot traces a prison from 1983 to 2001. Before 1983,
the prison is in a filthy condition, with prisoners (mostly
prostitutes) openly showing insolence to wardens. One prisoner,
Mitra (Roya Nonahali), presents no problem to the authorities,
though her crime is patricide, the most serious offense
among the prisoners. Then in 1983, a new warden, presumably
chosen due to her devotion to the revolution, takes charge.
Although harsh in her demeanor, Tahereh (Roya Taymourian)
proceeds to clean up the messy conditions and to insist
that the prisoners must show respect to the wardens. She
sends the most outspoken and her cohorts to solitary confinement,
and the rest are forced to endure snowy conditions out
of doors while the cells are cleaned and cleared of contraband.
In an effort to "break" Mitra, the warden repeatedly
sends her to solitary confinement, even shaving her head
on one occasion, all because she protests inhumane treatment,
not just of herself but also of her fellow prisoners. However,
in time the warden observes that "Auntie Mitra," as
her admiring inmates call her, brings far more order to
the prison, which is increasingly overcrowded, by first
delivering a baby (later named Sepideh), then defending
a virgin prisoner who is about to be raped, and much later
asking the warden to return the cap of fellow prisoner
Sepideh (played by Pegah Ahangarani), which Tahereh capriciously
confiscates. The warden comes to believe that Mitra was
justified in killing her father, who was brutalizing the
family, and in the end Mitra is released. The film demonstrates
many facts. One is that political prisoners are placed
among the prostitutes. Two, the Iranian revolution has
not reduced the population of incarcerated prostitutes,
which swell in number as the film progresses. Three, Mitra's
inability to post bail means that she must wait several
years for the courts to release her after she appeals.
Four, the prisoners do a fine job of organizing their own
society and are only alienated when the warden intervenes
with stern punishment. Five, the women are not the dregs
of society; they are merely unfortunate and in some cases
quite clever. Six, children born in prison return to prison
for lack of alternative social institutions to care for
them. As a group, Iranian filmmakers are the most politicized
in the world today. MH
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