Mother/Country

Tina Gharavi left Iran when she was six years old to live with her father in the West during the Iranian revolution. Mother/Country chronicles her first trip to Iran in two decades to see her mother. Opening with a voiceover phone conversation between Gharavi and her mother--featuring a none-too-subtle guilt trip from the latter about wanting her daughter to come “home”--the film follows their subsequent reunion and conversations as they gradually become reacquainted. Semi-effectively combining both cinema verité and fictional acted-out discussion-starter scenes (which the pair watch together and then talk about), the production falters a bit in its artistic aspirations with its unique blend of artifice and intimacy, but the issues Gharavi explores--abandonment, self-identity, feminine self-empowerment, the influence of cultural ideology, and, of course, the nature of the mother-daughter bond--will resonate with many viewers. Ultimately, Gharavi's mother's evasive attitude about why she sent her daughter away is no less comforting than the frequent declarations of love and motherly advice that belie a disjunction between the personal and the cultural that Gharavi challenges right to the end. Recommended for larger women's studies collections, this is a strong optional purchase elsewhere. Aud: C. (A. Cantú)