Canaan

Dumping her husband in order to emigration to Canada, Mina (my beloved Taraneh Alidoosti) faces some new aspects of life which may change her decision. Her desperate sister, Azar (Afsaneh Bayegan) comes back from Sweden after a long time and Mina's helpless how to inform her and her husband, Morteza (Mohammad Reza Forutan) that she's pregnant. Azar once had an unsuccessful suicide and Mina needs to prevent her to do it again. All the happenings lead Mina to make a pledge… The first officially released film of Mani Haghighi, undeniably has the traces of the screenwriter (Asghar Farhadi) who has directed some appreciated movies . The actors are all great and believable, especially Taraneh Alidoosti, though they say the role of Mina was supposed to be played by Leila Hatami, at first. And the theme music reminded me the cold ambiance of Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. In one word, Canaan is another Iranian drama which is trying to show some unseen sides of Iranian life, made by a professional cast and crew. Worth watching!

Asghar Farhadi is fast becoming one of the most prolific, as well as highly regarded, script writers in Iran. In addition to writing the scripts for his own movies, he often lends a helping hands to friends and colleagues; in this instance to director Mani Haghighi, who probably returned the favor by acting in Farhadi's About Elly.

Farhadi's specialty is delving into the inner psyche of human relationships. Here we have a couple on the brink of separation. Mina (Taraneh Alidoosti), who used to be a student of her husband Morteza (Mohamad Reza Foroutan) at college, is disillusioned with her life. This comes both from a feeling of having wasted her life and under achievement, as well as disillusionment with her husband who has changed from the brilliant academic that she married to a scheming real estate developer.The situation becomes more complex when Mina's suicidal sister Azar (Afsaneh Bayegan) visits them from Germany.

For both Mina and Morteza, a final trip together to a seaside town to visit Morteza's mother before signing the divorce papers becomes a journey of re-discovery and self assessment.

Canaan is beautifully played by all the main actors and is an intelligent and rewarding film. It's another triumph for both Haghighi and Farhadi.