‘Portrait of a Lady Far Away’ on the London film festival
October 31, 2005 – 6:29 pm‘Portrait of a Lady Far Away’ was on this afternoon at 2.00 p.m. and sounded most interesting, if only i hadn’t been at work! ah well - referred to as ‘ a dreamy, hallucinatory ride through Tehran by twilight’ - it sounds worth holding on to for future viewing purposes. Its a debut feature also - by actor-turned-director Ali Mosaffa, and stars Leila Hatami who’s previously been (amongst other films!) in Deserted Station ( 2004) and ‘Leila’ which premiered at the 1997 Fajr festival in Tehran.
synopsis of the film - extracted off the LFF website somewhere !
“An aging architect finds a message on his answering machine from an unknown woman who claims to have dialled his number at random. She also claims that she is planning on committing suicide. But when he arrives at the given address, he finds the apartment empty. Instead, he chances to meet the caller’s girlfriend who is understandably very upset. Together they drive round the hospitals, but there is no trace of the suicide. He and the young woman — who, like her girlfriend, is an actress — continue to traverse the city through the night. In the process, several seemingly insignificant events and encounters take place which, in his weary mind, gradually create a disquieting image of a world racked by alienation and doubt. The taciturn young woman at his side becomes a kind of guide, taking him surprisingly deep into his own past. ”
if anyone’s managed to see this film, let me know.
( grabbed from http://leila.4t.com/ - thank you! )