Wednesday, May 9 – movie review

A slow-burning Iranian movie, Wednesday, May 9 lifts the lid on the role of women and the subjugation of them in a repressed society. It takes a while to unravel the threads, because the story is presented as a puzzle with the pieces being fitted together over time.

We first meet a woman with a small child by her side looking on as a large crowd is dispersed outside somebody’s home. But why is she there? She returns after work and eventually comes face to face with a man to whom she was engaged 20 years earlier … only he walked out on that relationship. Both the woman and the man have since moved on with their lives. He married and had two boys. One of them died 11 years ago at the tender age of five. She too was wed, but now her husband is grossly disabled and needs an operation to try to regain some quality of life. The reason she went to the location when she did and after some effort confronted the man was because an anonymous advertisement placed in a local newspaper. The ad offered a significant sum of money to a worthy person in need and, not surprisingly, hundreds of people turned up. She came along not knowing the person who placed the ad was her ex-fiancé.

This woman’s story is one of three that unfolds. The second concerns a young woman who married in secret and is now pregnant. The orphan was brought up by her aunt, but the man she wed – although a decent fellow – isn’t considered an appropriate match. No amount of imploring can convince her aunt otherwise and the young woman’s relative is livid. He not only draws blood from her face, but confronts and assaults the young woman’s husband. But rather than the relative being admonished, the husband is jailed and won’t be let out unless he comes up with a significant “blood money” payment. Turfed out by her aunt, the young woman has nowhere to turn except to this good Samaritan with money to give away.

And talking of the latter, we also get to hear his story – just why he decided to give so much away and the difficulties he and his wife have faced along their journey.

With tension at every turn, Wednesday, May 9 draws us deep into the tangled web of the predicaments it raises. There is no simple solution because of the entrenched behavior patterns with which we are dealing. Just as it is supposed to, this is a movie that leaves you frustrated and angry at the inequity and injustices perpetrated. None of the key players are bad people and yet the cards they have each been dealt give them heavy hearts.

The performances are strong and Tehran-born Vahid Jalilvand has woven a compelling story of angst.

Wednesday, May 9 raises the question just what would we do if we were in each of these people’s situations. We would be desperate but where could we turn and would anybody really care enough to lend a hand? It may seem unfair – in fact, there is no doubt it is – but that is life and this is a slice of life reality piece that I won’t easily forget. Rated M, Wednesday, May 9 scores a 7½ out of 10.

Director: Vahid Jalilvand
Release Date: 29 September 2016Rating: M

Alex First