WINTER SLEEP
Iran, 2008, 90 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Siamak Shayeghi.
Winter Sleep is an Iranian film, a variation on Chekhov’s Three Sisters. The three sisters remember their father, live in an impoverished house with the noises of planes going overhead. The older sister is on crutches, unable to teach – although a kindly man arranges for her to go back to school. The younger sister is studying accountancy and has a surly manner as well as a tantalising one, especially with a young taxi driver who is attracted to her.
The main focus is on the middle sister, a rather severe woman, who manages a tile factory. She clashes with the designer, with the union leader. However, the tile designer comes to her house, offers her a new design – and she mellows somewhat.
The film is a low-key portrait of three Iranian women.
1.A variation on the Three Sisters theme? The patterns in Islamic life? Iranian life?
2.The ordinary settings, the old house, the noise from the plane overhead, the streets, lectures, schools, modern factories?
3.The opening with the veneration of the father? His memory?
4.The three sisters at home, the bonds between them, their ages, tensions?
5.The focus on the middle sister, at home, at work, her cold manner, in the office, her interactions with the designer of the tiles, with the union leader, with the owner, his attention to her and wanting to marry her? Terse? At home, her concerns, the new designs, the designer coming to the home, her welcoming him? A future?
6.The older sister, on crutches, busy, not wanting to be wheeled, not wanting to be dependent, the visit of the elderly friend, his intervention for the school, her going to teach again?
7.The youngest sister, at classes, walking out, wanting to be an accountant, the young man and his taxi, the discussion about the job, the advice for the application, mischievous at home?
8.The men as subordinate to the women: the designer, the union leader, the taxi man, the elderly man on crutches, the owner of the business?
9.The quiet resolution at the end – and the hope for a future for each of them?
