Marziyeh Meshkini’s The Day I Became a Woman

Summary

A preference for metaphors, impressionism, and surrealism rather than realism can be seen to a greater extent in many Iranian films produced after the 1979 Islamic Revolution than in previous periods. One of these films is The Day I Became a Woman by the award-winning director Marziyeh Meshkini (2000). In this movie, there are several metaphors illustrating the unbearable constraints of the religious, cultural, and political norms and values imposed on women. What makes this film special is that its director is a woman and her talent as a director has earned the film prizes at several festivals. It is Marziyeh Meshkini's debut: her husband Mohsen Makhmalbaf wrote the script.

The film consists of three episodes describing three stages of becoming a woman in Iran: childhood, marriage, and old age. The first episode recounts the story of a girl, Havvâ, who will turn nine years old within a few hours, at which time she will be accorded the status of womanhood. According to religious tenets and traditional cultural practices, when a girl turns nine, she should be regarded as marriageable and a set of religious rules are applicable to her. From that moment on, she should perform her compulsory daily prayer, fasting, and so on. Although in today's Iran such a tenet can be found more in books than in real life, it is striking to see how Meshkini highlights the moment, showing the inhumane aspects of male-female relationships.

Extremely poignant is the metaphor of the veil, illustrating three stages of womanhood, a visible metaphor that is exploited in all three episodes in the film. The emphasis on the veil as an identity marker for woman is seen from the beginning. In one of the very first scenes, in which Havvâ's grandmother awakens her, she is in a white tent and, as she wants to come out of the tent, she playfully veils herself with the opening of the tent. The word châdor is used for both a tent, and the common black veil that exposes the face. The ambivalence is significant in this episode, as Havvâ's becoming a woman is marked, later, by her wearing a black veil. Innocence gives way to experience, although Havvâ is too young to understand the transition fully. This tent/veil demarcates woman's living space, protects her modesty, and emphasizes her chastity.