SOUL MATES
Iran, 2004, 120 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Mahdi Fakhimzadeh.
Soul Mates is about two people suffering from mental illness. A man in his fifties has spent a long time in an institution, is continually criticised by his sister-in-law. He finds a woman with children and is attracted towards her and the children, goes to her and marries her. It emerges that she has more mental troubles than he. Her husband wants her hospitalised, wants custody of the children.
A great deal of the film is spent in the institution, especially the work of a very sympathetic doctor, the man and the woman confronting the reality of their mental illness and the possibilities of coping.
The film is very critical of people who cast aspersions on the mentally ill or have ungrounded fears. This is especially true of the neighbours of the couple. In a telling scene, where they are giving witness about the couple, the doctor introduces the inmates of the institution and the neighbours all react with great terror, even though the inmates are particularly well-behaved.
The film shows, in a dramatic and melodramatic way, the hardships of people suffering from mental illness and their treatment by others. At the end, there is an extraordinarily optimistic ending with the couple and their children flying over Teheran - only to have the more sombre ending of their remaining in the institution.
Comparisons could be made with the American films, David and Lisa and Garry Marshall's The Other Sister as well as the Australian film, Angel Baby.
1. A film about people with mental illness? The sympathetic attitude towards them? The film critical of unfounded fears of people suffering from mental illness?
2. The Teheran settings, the streets and apartments, the institution? An authentic urban atmosphere? Musical score?
3. The title and its focus on the two central characters, their relationship, their shared burdens?
4. The opening, the big man and the scene made with the ice-cream seller, the pursuit, the hero and his eluding the police by carrying the child and the groceries, going home with the children, discovering their situation, the sympathetic response, his return, the discussions with the woman, their marriage, his settling in?
5. The man himself, age, experience, long time in the institution, his timidity? The clashes with his sister-in-law? With his brother? His leaving, locking them in? Going to the house? Settling down?
6. The brother and his putting the notice in the paper, his wife's reaction and embarrassment, the phone calls, the ex-husband and the information?
7. The mother, her relationship with her children, driving the taxi? The marriage? Her hearing about his mental illness, the interrogation, her being satisfied? His hearing about her illness from the vengeful sister-in-law? The reality of her illness, her behaviour in the car, with the passengers, the discussions? Her crashing into the flower stall? Her tantrums? Her being taken away?
8. The man, his compassion, his puzzlement, the reaction of the neighbours? Their hostility? His being in the hospital with his wife? His return home, the father and his wanting the children, the police, the escape by the window, knocking out the neighbour, going to his brother's home? His brother taking his side?
9. The hearing, the father and his condemnations, the neighbours and their testimony, the judge allowing the father to have the children?
10. The scenes in the hospital, the sympathetic doctor, her treatment? The response of both the man and the woman? The session, the doctor telling the situation of her brother, the reaction of the patients, their own discussion, their reactions to the man and the woman? In their rooms, the big man welcoming him back, the women and the woman's defiance?
11. The hearing, the judge, the neighbours and their talking about their fears, the introduction of the residents, their greetings, the terror of the neighbours, the doctor sending them out in an orderly way, the judge saying it was a good show?
12. The man and the woman in the hospital, packing their cases, the doctor urging them to go for a walk, their changing clothes, the open gate, their going through, the father giving up the children, their flying over the city? The atmosphere of this happy ending, the cutting to the reality and their both being in the hospital?
