WOMEN WITHOUT MEN

Women Without Men, an adaptation of Shahrnush Parsipur’s magic

realist novel, is Iranian artist, Shirin Neshat’s, first feature length

film. The story chronicles the intertwining lives of four Iranian

women during the summer of 1953; a cataclysmic moment in

Iranian history when an American led, British backed coup d’état

brought down the democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammad

Mossadegh, and reinstalled the Shah to power. Over the

course of several days four disparate women from Iranian society

are brought together against the backdrop of political and social

turmoil. Fakhri, a middle aged woman trapped in a loveless marriage

must contend with her feelings for an old flame who has just

returned from America and walked back into her life. Zarin, a young

prostitute, tries to escape the devastating realization that she can

no longer see the faces of men. Munis, a politically awakened young

woman, must resist the seclusion imposed on her by her religiously

traditional brother, while her friend Faezeh remains oblivious to the

turmoil in the streets and longs only to marry Munis’ domineering

brother. As the political turmoil swells in the streets of Tehran, each

woman is liberated from her predicament.

Munis becomes an active part of the political struggle by plunging

to her death. Fakhri frees herself from the chains of her stagnant

marriage by leaving her husband and purchasing a mystical orchard

in the outskirts of the city. Faezeh is taken to the orchard by Munis

to face her own awakened self where Zarin has found solace in her

communion with the land. But it is only a matter of time before the

world outside the walls of the orchard seep into the lives of these

four women as their country’s history takes a tragic turn.