STRANDS OF HAIR

Iran, 2004, 81 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Iraj Karimi (pictured above).

Strands of Hair is a short-running film but is very difficult to sit through. The plot focuses on a divorced woman, her relationships, a company, her friends, her son and his involvement in demonstrations as well as his girlfriend.

However, the film is experimental insofar as most of its action takes place with people talking on phones, especially mobile phones. The credits sequence indicates this with the wide range of phone calls and people answering.

However, this means that it is very difficult to establish a rapport with the characters, even identify who they are and their relationships. The effect is that the film is more like visual radio. One can shut one's eyes, simply listen to the words and focus on what is happening. The visuals take place in the city as well as in the mountainous countryside but are merely a backdrop to the talk on the phone.

The film's writer, editor, director, shows initiative in experimenting with new forms of cinema but unfortunately, the whole approach to the words, the phones and the images does not work well dramatically.