3 Faces
A search for a missing girl leads to a small Iranian village – and pertinent questions about the nation’s patriarchal attitudes – in 3 Faces, a lovely, quasi-realist parable from writer-director Jafar Panahi (Taxi Teheran).
Well-known actress Behnaz Jafari is distraught by a provincial girl’s video plea for help – oppressed by her family to not pursue her studies at the Tehran drama conservatory. Behnaz abandons her shoot and turns to filmmaker Jafar Panahi to help solve the mystery of the young girl’s troubles. They travel by car to the rural northwest where they have amusing encounters with the charming folk of the girl’s mountain village. But the city visitors soon discover that the protection of age-old traditions is as generous as local hospitality. Recipient of the award for best screenplay at this year’s Festival de Cannes, the film offers up a reflection on artistic freedom and acting, and on traditions that can enrich and restrict at the very same time. The film’s title symbolically brings together three generations of actresses: icon of Iranian cinema Shahrzad, the aforementioned Behnaz Jafari and the young, as-yet unknown Marziyeh Rezaei.