The Hidden Half

A female filmmaker in a Middle Eastern country that represses women makes a film about distaff political involvement in the late 1970s and is jailed for her stance. A group of American filmmakers come to her defense, leading (perhaps indirectly) to her parole, and her film is finally released in her native land. Great story! Unfortunately, the off-screen controversy surrounding Tahmineh Milani's Iranian drama The Hidden Half is far more interesting than the political romance onscreen, which unfolds when a high-ranking judge named Khosro (Mohammad Nikbin) is handed a long letter by his wife Fereshteh (Niki Karimi) to read on his trip to interview a female death row political prisoner who has filed an appeal. Hoping to spur her husband to truly listen to the sentenced woman's story, Fereshteh admits that she too was once a revolutionary as a young university student, and would have ended up in prison herself were it not for a romantic relationship with a powerful married man. Primarily told in flashback, Fereshteh's story charts how her political involvement helped her grow from an inexperienced girl into a knowledgeable woman who, unfortunately, had no valid voice in her own country. Milani's advocacy of women's rights and secular political beliefs are unquestionably courageous, but the flashback love story falls flat and the political intrigue never properly develops. Still, the publicity surrounding the film, coupled with the powerful performance by Karimi make The Hidden Half a strong optional purchase. (D. Fienberg)