4/5 stars Iranian cinema is a dominant force in filmmaking thanks to the international recognition of auteur filmmakers such as Jafar Panahi and Asghar Farhadi. Their work has provided candid, often critical insights into everyday life in the somewhat secretive nation, exposing debilitating contradictions within Iran’s strict, sharia-based legal system. Ballad of a White Cow , which competed for the Golden Bear at the 2021 Berlin film festival, taps into precisely this sentiment of frustration and injustice. Its female protagonist is repeatedly stonewalled by the authorities and the interfering men in her life. A year after her husband was executed, single mother Mina (Maryam Moghadam) is informed that he was in fact innocent, and the man responsible for the crime for which he was convicted has come forward and confessed. Distraught, she sets out to demand a public apology from the supreme court, even as everyone around her insists that what transpired was “God’s will”. As compensation she is awarded a substantial financial settlement from the government, but until the payment comes through, Mina struggles to provide for herself and her young, deaf daughter (Avin Poor Raoufi), who is unaware that her father is dead. Mina’s in-laws begin to circle, determined to claim the payout for themselves, when Mina is approached by a strange man, Reza (Alireza Sani Far), who has come to repay a debt he owed her late husband. Reza is affluent, respectable and reserved. He is vague about the specifics of how he knew Mina’s husband and what the debt was for, but quickly hands over a sizeable amount of cash and even offers her a spacious apartment for rent. Mina is cautious at first, but as most landlords refuse to rent to single women, she accepts and slowly draws closer to Reza. It soon becomes apparent, however, that he is burdened by secrets of his own. Moghadam is captivating in the central role, as an innocent victim of a system that continues to render women powerless in almost every aspect of daily life. That she also co-wrote and co-directed the film with Behtash Sanaeeha only further illustrates the redundancy of such draconian restrictions. Ballad of a White Cow ’s measured, methodical pace allows the viewer to fully appreciate the film’s bold visual aesthetic, one in which the country more closely resembles a desolate post-apocalyptic hellscape than an emerging 21st century society. While not always an easy watch, Moghadam’s film is a haunting and vital piece of work. Want more articles like this? Follow SCMP Film on Facebook