Shirin

Synopsis: SHIRIN shows an audience of more than 100 women who are deeply absorbed in watching a film we never see. We observe instead how the drama plays out on the faces of the audience, seen in close-up, mostly one at a time, illuminated by the flickering light of the screen. It is a mesmerising series of portraits of women young and old, their expressions variously wistful, quizzical, amused, enraptured and distraught. Also helping us to reconstruct the tale for ourselves are the unseen film’s impassioned narration, dramatic dialogue, romantic, doom-laden score, and richly evocative sound effects.

Although SHIRIN creates a strong illusion of real women watching a real film, the audience is in fact made up of well-known Iranian actresses (plus Juliette Binoche who happened to be there when filming was taking place). Reportedly, the entire film was shot in Kiarostami’s living room, with the women looking only at a blank screen while imagining their own love stories, and the narration was decided upon only after Kiarostami had finished filming.

DVD extras: TASTE OF SHIRIN (2008) - Hamideh Razavi’s documentary on the making of Shirin; Illustrated booklet containing essays and credits
Language: English
Country: Iran
Year of release: 2009
Year of production: 2009
Subjects: Drama; Film studies
Keywords: facial expressions; non-verbal communication; women; Film & television production; cinema - Iranian

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