Review of Ten (2002) by James C — 08 Nov 2007

Controversial Iranian Director Abbas Kiarostami's ability to reveal the lives of everyday Iranians, a world that westerners rarely see--is a great feat. Ten changes misconceptions of women in Iran and at the same time is a social commentary on women in Iran.

This film is entirely shot inside a car, where a woman is driving through Tehran running errands, as 10 different passengers representing all walks of Iranian everyday life get in and out. It may look boring but it's all symbolic, from the headscarf to one scene where a young woman takes off her scarf, alluding to the intimate revealing of herself on screen.

The voyeuristic element is repetitive as the women symbolically act out very minor gestures which only the audience sees--the caressing of skin, the adjusting of shawls, the stripping down of the head scarf, sexuality versus matriarchal traditionalism, the revelation of intimate details in a society that is not so revelatory on the surface.