It’s not like a fairytale. If you were more familiar with Persian culture, you wouldn’t be surprised, as Persians are generally very warm and kind. However, I understand how it might seem from the outside. That said, everything is accurately depicted and closely resembles typical middle-class life in Iran. While society is strict, as you mentioned, most people are not- which is why such a ‘fairytale’ can still happen. Thanks for the review!
Thanks for sharing this perspective. Interesting. We can only ever watch films through the perspective of our own lens which inevitably may result in misunderstanding in relation to different cultures.
Nice review! The film has beautiful symbolism throughout (the cake representing freedom, the heroine representing Iran) definitely worth a re-watch with that in mind.
Revisiting my favourite films in 2024 via Cliff’s reviews. I enjoyed this one more than Cliff. As a single woman of a certain age myself I really related to Mahin, she is warm and funny and opinionated and irl am sure we would be friends. But Mahin is lonely and must contrive a quite desperate plan to meet someone of the opposite sex for it is not allowed to happen unsupervised in her society. Whereas all I need to do is join a club or go to the movies and I can speak to whomever I like. When her plan actually works it is like a fairy tale, but it is a fairytale taking place within a nightmare. The tonal shift at the end of the film IS the point of the film in my view. There can be no fairytales in this place. It made me think of my favourite horror film Under the Shadow by Iranian born Babak Ansari. The real horror is much worse than any supernatural demon. I must see both these films again.
@ Please watch Under the Shadow too if you have not already. Both this and My Favourite Cake are using a genre (horror and rom-com) to explore really potent themes.
I definitely need to see this film again to give it a fair interpretation. The truth is I only know the headlines about Iran. So I very much appreciate that an Iranian person will understand things about this film that I don’t.
It’s not like a fairytale. If you were more familiar with Persian culture, you wouldn’t be surprised, as Persians are generally very warm and kind. However, I understand how it might seem from the outside. That said, everything is accurately depicted and closely resembles typical middle-class life in Iran. While society is strict, as you mentioned, most people are not- which is why such a ‘fairytale’ can still happen. Thanks for the review!
Thanks for sharing this perspective. Interesting. We can only ever watch films through the perspective of our own lens which inevitably may result in misunderstanding in relation to different cultures.
Nice review! The film has beautiful symbolism throughout (the cake representing freedom, the heroine representing Iran) definitely worth a re-watch with that in mind.
Thanks for this. I’ll definitely keep that in mind when I rewatch it.
Revisiting my favourite films in 2024 via Cliff’s reviews. I enjoyed this one more than Cliff. As a single woman of a certain age myself I really related to Mahin, she is warm and funny and opinionated and irl am sure we would be friends. But Mahin is lonely and must contrive a quite desperate plan to meet someone of the opposite sex for it is not allowed to happen unsupervised in her society. Whereas all I need to do is join a club or go to the movies and I can speak to whomever I like. When her plan actually works it is like a fairy tale, but it is a fairytale taking place within a nightmare. The tonal shift at the end of the film IS the point of the film in my view. There can be no fairytales in this place. It made me think of my favourite horror film Under the Shadow by Iranian born Babak Ansari. The real horror is much worse than any supernatural demon. I must see both these films again.
I’ve had some interesting comments in reaction to my review of this film. I definitely need to watch it again. I may well have misjudged it.
@ Please watch Under the Shadow too if you have not already. Both this and My Favourite Cake are using a genre (horror and rom-com) to explore really potent themes.
❤🙏 appreciate it! Keep up the great work on Movies analysis
Thanks! Appreciate the positive feedback
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Well pointed out!!! Where you mentioned context! Super important 2:01
May you don't understand friendly nature of people in Iran, that makes you think of a fairytale 😂
I definitely need to see this film again to give it a fair interpretation. The truth is I only know the headlines about Iran. So I very much appreciate that an Iranian person will understand things about this film that I don’t.