Themes: Political Unrest, Generation Gap, Fathers and Daughters
Main Cast: Aghelah Resaie, Agheleh Rezaïe, Abdolgani Yousefrazi, Razi Mohebi, Marzieh Amiri
Release Year: 2003
Country: IR/FR
Run Time: 105 minutes
Plot
Iranian writer/director Samira Makhmalbaf directs At Five in the Afternoon, co-scripted by her father, Mohsen Makhmalbaf (director of Kandahar). In the bombed-out ruins of post-Taliban Kabul, Noqreh (Agheleh Rezaie) lives with her conservative father (Abdolgani Yousefrazi) and her sister-in-law, Leylomah (Marzieh Amiri), in temporary refuge buildings. Although her father insists that she go to the religious school, Noqreh sneaks into a secular school for girls. Her teacher encourages her to run for class president, and she finds support from a refugee poet (Razi Mahebi), who introduces her to the work of Garcia Lorca. Noqreh dreams about becoming president of Afghanistan, and she bases her political ideals on former Pakistani president Benazir Bhutto. At Five in the Afternoon won the Jury Prize at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
Review
Samira Makhmalbaf's third film continues in the powerful, deeply humanist tradition of her first two films, The Apple and Blackboards. Like Blackboards, At Five in the Afternoon also won her the jury prize at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. Ostensibly about a woman's dream of becoming president of Afghanistan, the film addresses that nation's painful recovery from Taliban rule by focusing the dynamics of one family struggling to survive in a refugee camp. While Noqreh (Agheleh Rezaie) secretly attends a school for women, her elderly father (Abdolgani Yousefrazi) clings stubbornly to the Taliban's strict rules about women's behavior. Makhmalbaf avoids turning her film into a dry political allegory by giving emotional depth and compassion even to this essentially unpleasant character, a man so trapped in his beliefs that he can only confess his troubles to his horse. The clash of ideals and generations against the backdrop of teeming refugee camps in a ruined former parliament building and a crashed airplane becomes even more tragic when Noqreh, her father, and sister-in-law (Marzieh Amiri) make a pilgrimage across the desert in search of a better life. Their journey, which occupies most of the second half of the film, has an emotional impact that is almost unbearably powerful. As their struggle for survival becomes more and more desperate, their humanity comes more sharply into focus. This film proves that Makhmalbaf, though only 23, is a master. ~ Tom Vick, All Movie Guide
Samira's 14-year old sister Hana Makhmalbaf made a documentary about the making of the film, entitled Joy of Madness (Lezate divanegi). It documents Samira's trials and tribulations whilst trying to persuade people in Kabul to take part in her film. As a teenager, Hana was able to amass a lot of digital video footage unnoticed.
