The Mare

Noted Iranian actress Susan Taslimi plays an impoverished single mother who agees to marry off her 13-year-old daughter to a middle-aged man in return for a mare, which will help her earn an income and provide for her younger children. Director Ali Zhekan paints a stark picture of poverty and patriarchy in rural Iran (the mother stores her rice in a container hidden in a tree; her brother, who brokered the wedding, mercilessly beats the recalcitrant child), but this 1986 film is distinguished mostly by Taslimi's increasingly fiery performance as the mother decides to defend her daughter's freedom.

Directed by Ali Zhekan

Images

Cast

Susan Taslimi

Rezvaneh

Hossein Mahjoub

Rahmat

Firouz Behjat-Mohamadi

Ghodrat

Ataollah Zahed

Nooragha

Farhad Khanmohammadi

Aghbay

Maliheh Nazari

Halimeh

Mojilong Danespooy

Golbooteh

Parvin Hazrati

Robabeh

Parviz Shahinkhou

Bagher

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