In Jafar Panahi's ‘Mirrors’-had also been hooked from the very start by his white balloon and Offside-one is left wondering at many points why the people little Mina encounters are not extra helpful; these doubts are only partially resolved by the ‘baring the device’ in the middle of the movie. Many of The previous scenes have to be re-interpreted (again without complete resolution/satisfaction) after the revelation. Panahi does not want to give explanations, only document the city life(tehran) seen from eyes of an adventrous grade 2? girl and the background talk of bus riders, walkers. He also always keeps the viewer hungry, and sometimes impatient, for what happens next.
The unreliability and incompleteness of her ‘knowledge’ provides the rambling but never dull story. Mirrors has more adventure than White Balloon and some of the child’s responses are much more adult like and jaded. Both the girls are not very patient but in Mirrors, the girl has little time to sit and think and have a conversation(she having no elder brother, as in White balloon, to help her negotiate). At the same time, she trusts completely the kinder people she questions and entreats them (bus driver, policeman, old lady) to come with her to the destination that is flashing through her mind at that moment. Knows a few things but cannot put them all together. Neither can those who try to help her since the info is insufficient.
Most of those who are asked for help have valid reasons for not staying with her for long. She is not afraid to ask questions and is confident of her ability to find her way. A small girl wondering about for so long - what does it say about her society? The girl is treated as an adult (only because of her confidence?) and sometimes she displays the indifference of adults-the scooter and car crashes do not affect her much.
No society can be unidimensional. Young girls more free to talk, act and move about than adult women. The freedom that she has when she cannot value it and use it well will be absent when she wants it later in life. The bus scene of the engaged? couple exchanging loving glances and unaware of Mina ‘catching’ them tells a lot about the constraints women have to live under and also of the small mercies. Mina's smile is also a mix of innocence and knowingness.
Mina’s parents can be blamed for not making arrangements for her going home and also for making her act. but this is something that everybody seems ready to overlook, if not condone.
Panahi is perhaps making a comment on the value of capturing random movements and interactions of a small girl. It might be better than following a more predictable adult but invading the private world of a kid becomes self-defeating after a certain point.
Svejk like combo of angel and devil.
The unreliability and incompleteness of her ‘knowledge’ provides the rambling but never dull story. Mirrors has more adventure than White Balloon and some of the child’s responses are much more adult like and jaded. Both the girls are not very patient but in Mirrors, the girl has little time to sit and think and have a conversation(she having no elder brother, as in White balloon, to help her negotiate). At the same time, she trusts completely the kinder people she questions and entreats them (bus driver, policeman, old lady) to come with her to the destination that is flashing through her mind at that moment. Knows a few things but cannot put them all together. Neither can those who try to help her since the info is insufficient.
Most of those who are asked for help have valid reasons for not staying with her for long. She is not afraid to ask questions and is confident of her ability to find her way. A small girl wondering about for so long - what does it say about her society? The girl is treated as an adult (only because of her confidence?) and sometimes she displays the indifference of adults-the scooter and car crashes do not affect her much.
No society can be unidimensional. Young girls more free to talk, act and move about than adult women. The freedom that she has when she cannot value it and use it well will be absent when she wants it later in life. The bus scene of the engaged? couple exchanging loving glances and unaware of Mina ‘catching’ them tells a lot about the constraints women have to live under and also of the small mercies. Mina's smile is also a mix of innocence and knowingness.
Mina’s parents can be blamed for not making arrangements for her going home and also for making her act. but this is something that everybody seems ready to overlook, if not condone.
Panahi is perhaps making a comment on the value of capturing random movements and interactions of a small girl. It might be better than following a more predictable adult but invading the private world of a kid becomes self-defeating after a certain point.
Svejk like combo of angel and devil.
posted by cosmonja at
5:17 AM
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