Leila Hatami Movies

An Iranian couple plans to flee the country with their young daughter, but finds their marriage suffering after their plans fall through due to an unforeseen complication. Simin; her husband, Nader; and their daughter, Termeh, are all set to leave Iran when Nader impulsively cancels the plans to care for his ailing father. Incensed, Simin attempts to sue for divorce, but finds herself forced to move back in with her parents when the family court rejects her request. In a naïve attempt to reunite her fractured family, Termeh subsequently moves back in with her father as her grandfather slips deeper into the throes of Alzheimer's disease. However, when the demands of caring for his father become too great a burden for one man to carry, Nader hires Razieh as a nurse. At first Razieh seems like the answer to all of Nader's prayers; little does he realize she is carrying a child, and that she's been keeping her career a secret from her husband. Then, one day, Nader returns home to find his father bound to a table and Razieh nowhere in sight. In the explosive confrontation that follows, Termeh sees a side of her father she never knew existed, and Nader's rage threatens tragic consequences for all involved. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Ebrahim Hatamikia's Ertefa-e Past (Low Altitude) is about a man who takes a desperate action. Ghassem (Hamid Farrokhnezhad) is flying his family, including his wife, Nargess (Leila Hatami), from Iran to a town in the Persian Gulf in order to find them all employment. Instead, angered by the economically poor state of Iranian society, he hijacks the plane once it is in the air. Tense scenes are counterbalanced with humorous scenes of the rather quirky family on the plane. Mohammad Ali Inanloo plays the calm and collected pilot. Low Altitude was screened at the Fajr Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Iranian filmmaker Dariush Mehrjui (Gav) directed and co-wrote this tale of a woman's dissolving marriage in contemporary Iran. Leila (Leila Hatami) meets her future husband, Reza (Ali Mosaffa), when a friend brings him to a family event. Two months later, they're married, and things seem to be blissful. The middle-class couple has a playful and loving relationship, but their happiness is jeopardized when they discover that Leila cannot bear children. As the couple tries various tests and alternate methods of conception to no avail, Reza continually reassures Leila that it's not important to him to have children -- only to be with her. But Reza is the only male child in his family, and his mother (Jamileh Sheikhi), an old-fashioned woman, is determined for him to have a son to continue the family line. She continually harangues Leila, telling her that Reza desperately wants a child, even if he insists to Leila that he doesn't. Eventually all the pressure from Reza's mother and her own feelings of inadequacy get to Leila, and she agrees to allow Reza to take a second wife who can have his child. As the couple grow more despondent and uncertain as to how to please one another, Reza, unable to assuage Leila's guilt, reluctantly agrees to meet several women his mother has selected as potential second wives. At first, Reza and Leila joke about the unsuitability of the women he's fixed up with, and rediscover some of the joy in their own loving marriage, but eventually their resistance wears down, and they both give in to his mother's wishes. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi