The Persian Version premiered the same year as The Queen of my Dreams. Both films are about sapphic daughters of first generation immigrant mothers. Both films feature lengthy flashbacks to the mother’s youth. And both are also good films. Though with such a direct comparison, The Persian Version is the weaker of the two.
Leila doesn’t fit anywhere. She’s multicultural, queer and the only daughter of her parents’ nine children. She and her mother, Shireen have a contentious relationship, which Leila believes is at least somewhat to do with her queerness. At a Halloween party, Leila sleeps with a man in drag. After realizing she’s pregnant, she shares this information with her family. Meanwhile, Leila’s father is getting a heart transplant. While Leila’s presence seems less than welcome in the hospital, she keeps her ailing grandmother company. Her grandmother mentions the tragedy and scandal that shaped her mother’s early years of marriage which then leads into a lengthy flashback.
The Persian Version comes up short when it comes to the film’s focus. There is simply too much happening here to be contained in a single movie. Leila’s eight brothers are reduced to single word stereotypes like the hippy or the nerd. There’s no room for them in this story of both Leila and her mother’s drama. And even here, there’s too much going on. Hell, even in Leila’s story, there’s too many different plot threads. Leila’s lesbianism, for example. This is sort of dropped by the end of the film given that her baby daddy is a man. I’m not sure if they’re in a romantic relationship because there’s no time for that either. The film ultimately narrows down to being about motherhood. But only after a dozen other themes and subplots have been introduced which don’t get fully fleshed out.
On the flip side, the best thing about The Persian Version is its vibrancy and scope. Leila has a big family. It makes sense there’s a lot of different dynamics and stories and secrets. There is a real sense of love and celebration in the depiction of this family, but especially in the depiction of Leila and Shireen. The film is semi-autobiographical and you can tell. You can tell because there’s at once complexity and love in the depiction of this messy family and particularly, Shireen. This makes for a better than average depiction of a mother and daughter and of complex women overall.
The Persian Version is a bit all over the place. It jumps through time and even protagonist rapidly. It tries to tie this together using a lot of voiceover, which I personally hate. This is one of the ways in which I find The Queen of My Dreams to be the stronger film. But among the mess and in some ways, because of the mess, the film is enjoyable, engaging and vibrant.
Overall rating: 6.4/10
Other WLW films in similar genres
Mother and daughter stories
Pregnant after a single incident
Be First to Comment