Have you been wept recently watching a movie. Watch this movie. Its a family drama. Its is rare to see good people in real day life thats why we have these cinemas to watch and look upon ourselves.

The movie synopsis reveals that the husband of a woman and father has been tragically executed in error. I would have like to have known a little more about his trial an execution because those were cornerstones of the premise. However, they were not the focus of the film. Viewers are told more about those circumstances throughout the film and they might have revealed secrets that were important to storytelling. The widow suffers in many ways far beyond the initial tragedy because of the regressive actions of her in-laws and the misogynistic attitudes and laws of her society. Moreover, the widow was not the only person who suffers great loss in response to the wrongful execution, as the effects of the tragedy spread to many others in unexpected ways. The film constantly challenges the viewer not only to acknowledge criminal justice and social systems, especially in Iran, but assess their own views of justice, consequences, and revenge.

This is a movie with a sad premise which gives us only brief episodes of happiness throughout and none at the end. I highly recommend watching this movie, but the viewer should be prepared to find little joy from the conclusion. I only hope that this film and others like it will shine some light on dark issues of women's and human rights in Iran and all around the world where supposedly good men impose their laws, values, and religious tenets unjustly upon others. Watch it and learn more about others and yourself.

After last night seeing the very good Stop-Zemlia (2021-also reviewed) I decided to dig deeper into the online line-up at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Finding gems like Sun Children (2020-also reviewed) at online festivals last year,I was thrilled to find an Iran New Wave film at Edinburgh,leading to me listening to the ballad.

View on the film:

Closing the door behind Mina speaking to her husband for the last time on Death Row as he is killed for a crime which he did not commit, co-writers (with Mehrdad Kouroshniya) /co-directors Maryam Moghadam & Behtash Sanaeeha are joined by cinematographer Amin Jafari in mourning with Mina by displaying a sharp eye for draining the colour from the household,

Stepping back to capture the withdrawn state of the family, the directors superbly line the dour walls across the screen in refined Iran New Wave (INW) long-take wide-shots, which are spread across the state Mina and her daughter are in, as Mina fights for the Government to officially state in public the wrongful death they sentenced her husband to.

Detached from receiving moral support due to the stigma that being a single mother (due to becoming a widow) has in the country, co-writer/co-director Maryam Moghadam gives an astonishing performance as Mina, whose subtle anguish facial expression and downcast gaze is cleverly used by Moghadam to capture the weight of sorrow on Mina's shoulders.

Introducing the family as their lives get torn apart on Death Row, the screenplay by Kouroshniya/ Moghadam and Sanaeeha magnificently dips into the aftermath to make thoughtful criticism on society in Iran, (where the film is banned) via every attempt made by officials to refuse to admit that Mina's husband was innocent and wrongly given the death penalty.

Struck by the refusal of those officials to admit they got it wrong, the writers intelligently expand on this refusal, to wider society, where everyone Mina puts her hand out to, brushes it away due to her being a single mum/a widow, with the lone sign of support crumbling in a harrowing twisting ending in the final lines of the ballad.