Poverty of Two Women in Tehran Today; "Wednesday, 19 Ordibehesht" at the Venice Festival

"Wednesday, 19 Ordibehesht," the first film by Vahid Jalilvand, is the only representative of Iranian cinema at this year's Venice Festival, accepted in the Horizons section among dozens of Iranian films submitted. This film belongs to a new wave of Iranian cinema addressing poverty and the issues faced by the lowest strata of society. Last year, a film from this wave directed by Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami (Tales) won the best screenplay award at the Venice Festival. While "Wednesday, 19 Ordibehesht" is not a new occurrence in Iranian cinema, it successfully captures a part of urban society that is often overlooked, especially in daily life, presenting a painful image of the needy without embellishments or concealment. The film follows an unusual narrative: a man named Jalal places an advertisement in a newspaper stating he wants to donate thirty million tomans to someone in need. A large crowd gathers, and the police intervene. Among them, we follow the lives of two women: a girl named Setareh who has secretly married and needs this money to get her husband out of prison, and Leila, Jalal's former fiancée, who now needs the same amount for her husband's treatment. Despite its odd premise, the story becomes believable, and the way it is presented can engage the audience. Jalilvand, in his first experience, seems to draw from his theatrical background, but at times the film's realistic atmosphere is marred by theatrical exaggerations. The film's main issue arises from this: its simple style borders on realism, but the treatment gradually succumbs to melodrama and sometimes becomes exaggerated. The film is tear-jerking, and the filmmaker deliberately uses this tactic. For instance, the first depiction of Leila's husband shows him in a deplorable state (vomiting), and the camera emphasizes this. In many scenes, the filmmaker's camera is not neutral and does not want to remain an observer. The camera's involvement in the scene's action—while sometimes useful in engaging the viewer—exceeds the chosen narrative style and creates scenes that the film does not need. In fact, the film has enough potential to engage the viewer without the need for tear-jerking scenes (like when Jalal talks about the 'absence of a man in this city' and losing his child). However, the filmmaker successfully presents a healthy and unpretentious image of the lives of people in Iranian society—with such extreme poverty and types of prejudices—often overlooked by the urban middle class. Perhaps someone from today's middle class in Tehran would not believe they could live without a car, but the money for that car could save someone else's life. The film narrates such a strange character at a specific moment: in the midst of 'judging' life, which now takes on a new face with the judgment and forced choice among the poor. He has disagreements with his wife in this regard, but he seems determined and tries to ease a past pain—losing a child—by saving someone in need today. Fortunately, the film avoids falling into the trap of preachiness, and even Jalal's dialogues with his friend about the poor—on the verge of becoming preachy—ultimately do not create problems for the film's narrative. Despite the simplicity of the visual treatment—stemming from the film's affiliation with realistic cinema—the narrative is not linear, and we see another life through a flashback that connects to the present. The convergence of narrative lines at the point of Jalal's exit from the office is sufficient to engage the viewer, but it seems the filmmaker is concerned about the viewer's understanding; hence, for example, the scene of his meeting with Leila is repeated with all dialogues, which does not require such emphasis. This type of 'concern of the filmmaker about the viewer' seems to be the source of most problems in the film and detracts from it. The film's ending also appears to continue this type of concern: the filmmaker tries to create a happy ending by resolving Setareh's problem for the viewer's satisfaction, but before emphasizing the thirty million toman check, the film could have ended in a much more thought-provoking manner: at a moment when Jalal looks out the window waiting for Leila, the film could have cleverly ended at this point, leaving the question of whether Leila will come or not. In this context, 'Wednesday, 19 Ordibehesht' represents Iran's contribution to the Venice Film Festival 2015.