La familia de Leila

In Saeed Roustaee's engaging Iranian film "Leila's Brothers" (2022), viewers are pulled into a gripping story that tackles the challenges of family conflict and financial struggles. Set in modern-day Tehran, the film follows Leila, played by the talented Taraneh Alidoosti, as she works hard to carve out a stable career for herself while dealing with her four quarrelsome but loving brothers.

Roustaee's storytelling is top-notch, diving deep into each character's complexities, which keeps the audience hooked. The tension escalates when their self-absorbed father fixates on becoming the head of the extended family, a position that comes with a hefty cash prize that could jeopardize his children's business dreams.

The film's wide-ranging narrative is complemented by its skillfully woven emotional highs and lows, leading to some truly touching and sometimes heartbreaking scenes. "Leila's Brothers" stands out as a powerful anti-patriarchal tale, earning the FIPRESCI Critics' Prize at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. However, despite its critical acclaim, the film is still banned from being shown in Iran, highlighting its provocative and challenging subject matter.

"Leila's Brother" tells the story of poverty, pride and also persian social and cultural traditions. Eventhough our bright and clever protagonist - Leila experiences sexist behaviour from her parents and is constantly pushed aside, she is secretely the head of the family who keeps her relatives out of complete penury. Meanwhile her brothers are struggling with their careers and they still get more respect from their father than Leila. I found especially interesting this insight into the persian customs, where women are still treated differentely than men (e.g. When Leila couldn't attend a wedding reception because she is a woman). The story of Leila is closely intertwined with the story of her father, who is more interested in his fame and social status in the persian social ladder than the future of his own children. My opinion is that this picture represents the reality and everyday struggle of iranian men and especially women that are trying to break free from the unfair old traditions of their parents and in doing that this film makes itself valuable and also educational for non-persian audience. I must also point out the absolute stellar performance of Taraneh Alidoosti, who became the perfect choice for the resolute yet sensitive and compassionate Leila.

For the directors such as Saeed Roustaei, which their movies have the same thematic and a base storyline (which is incredible as a directing sign) is so complicated to make a same high quality movie with a different storyline and a different theme. But Saeed actually did it in the best possible way.

With having about 4 hours length, there is no way that even one part of the movie makes you feel sick or tired or bored which shows you the power of the storyline. By the way saeed must have been really grateful for having the trust of the best Iranian actors and actresses in order to give him the most powerful instrument of bringing his thoughts to reality.

The movie and the acts make you think and guess the story but it won't answer you soon. Sometimes it take more than a half hour for getting your answer and thats the point for a long movie to be acceptable to watch.

I guess Saeed tried to show the social restrictions in Iran in the clearest possible state. Without metaphors. The scenery of the worker's suppression or drinking in the wedding.

I saw the movie in the Paris, and I'm sure it will not be screened in Iran or it will be implemented with severe censorship.

BTW congrats to the cast and talented young director for making a movie which was deserved to win Palme d'Or.

As someone who closely follows the roller coaster of events in Iran, I could relate to it very well. The story line is simple but the character development and layers of complexity introduced as you keep watching make it really exciting and deep. One of the best movies I've ever watched from a director who was under 30 when he made this. The movie is so realistic without any exaggeration. Our society suffers from such miserable culture. The movie is such a brilliant illustration of what we are deeply struggle whit. I think we need this revolution by the name of woman, life, freedom to overcome all negative aspects of old believes, thoughts and pains.

The father of this family in movie is somehow symbolicly like the person who is running country of Iran who is not thinking about his children's job and future of his people and only thinking about other people not his people.

Where to begin... I am literally lost on how to begin describing the many groundbreaking attributes of the movie. What made me tear up over every critical scene was that nothing extraordinary happened. The movie somehow managed to include both the pace of a Hollywood movie and the realistic non-heroic (even anti-heroic) traits of European cinema.

The way the flawed heroin revolved into being an anti-heroin, a victim, a passive, an evil, and the way she crawled back into being "only human" but a blatantly frank and active rebel haunts every inch of my being.

The wholistic symbolism portraying the society it stemmed from could not execute the concepts in a better way and dialogues could not be more purposefully composed to include typical cultural moments of miscommunication, introspective vulnerability, misunderstanding, raging through.

The only thing I would change about the movie is the acting. Each character is acting their role from a previous movie which indicates that the focus was more on the plot that the directing. At points one would sense that the characters have not acquired sympathy with the role they are playing (well except for Mr. Poursamimi, he could not have done better)