ReviewBallad of a White Cow movie review: Maryam Moghadam’s haunting Iranian drama about a widow battling injustice
- The widow of a wrongly executed man, played by Maryam Moghadam, pursues an apology and compensation, aided by a white knight with secrets of his own
- Moghadam, who co-wrote and co-directed, is captivating in the central role of a film that underscores how theocratic Iran has thoroughly disempowered women
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.