The Mare

Noted Iranian actress Susan Taslimi plays an impoverished single mother who agees to marry off her 13yearold daughter to a middleaged 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 Taslimis increasingly fiery performance as the mother decides to defend her daughters freedom