(3.5/5)
A woman fights with her husband over abuse and his job. A clergyman has his wallet stolen and deals with the thief as well as his marriage clients. An older couple fears a TV repairman may be a potential intruder. These three stories, related only by the slenderest of narrative threads, make up this light-hearted and quite entertaining film set around the city of Tehran. They’re so tenuously connected, in fact, that this is basically a collection of three short films, handed off merely by a character in the next section appearing in the same location as a character from the one just ending.
In the first section, a woman leaves her apartment in a huff, leaving her husband behind to chase her – soon it becomes clear that he has hit her and she’s running home to her parents after six months of marriage. But there’s more to her anger, including her frustration that he’s working as a TV quiz show host instead of continuing to be a serious journalist. Meanwhile, he’s concerned about being able to provide for his family and stay out of trouble (the newspaper he used to work for had been suppressed by the government). It’s a good dramatic setup, but the film goes funny with it, and does a good job of it, giving the husband a hilarious, rapidly-delivered speech about men not hitting women being a recent historical development and how he needs more time to adjust. Best line: “I know I need cultural reform!”
