Rarely has a short film been produced that covers with superb creative editing, directing, and acting the complex issue of contradictory psychological dynamics in such a successful brief way. The audience is intrigued by a compelling non-linear story shown through outstanding cinematography, a story which does not provide any ready answers but forces the viewer to decipher a cascading series of brief action and imaginary components. An apparently wealthy woman is prompted by small clues to investigate an infidelity by her husband yet does not come to a clear conclusion. Nor does the audience know because the symbolism of the visual imagery clarifies and distracts and conveys no clear meaning structure as intended by the director. We have the juxtaposition of imagination, projections, and reality and cannot decipher if the flashbacks present Bahar’s past experience or her vivid fantasies. The presumed rival of her quest emerges in real scenes and is captured in her dreams but the rival may just be a visualization of a part of herself that exists in her submerged psychic world but not in reality. The rival’s happy appearances riding a horse or accompanying her husband as seen by Baher may reflect her joyful past contrasting strongly with her depressed presence. Baher does not succeed in catching her husband and he eludes her after he directed a dance sequence with masked characters in a theater. The mystery of the story is compounded by surreal imagery emerging from her unconsciousness.  As a depiction of covert conflicts and anxieties faced by contemporary women in Iranian society it displaces them into a cerebral and unconscious mindscape rather than having them disrupt openly.

BAHER is a stunning testimony to Akhondpour’s originality as a director who narrates a complex story through the memory, imaginary fragments, and obsessions inhabiting Baher’s mind.

Claus Mueller   filmexchange@gmail.com