Adding another strong voice to the chorus of anti-capital-punishment films coming out of Iran is Ballad of a White Cow (Ghasideyeh gave sefid), a drama almost entirely centered on the wife of a condemned man who is wrongfully executed for murder in the opening scene.
Played with huge amounts of feminine dignity by Maryam Moghaddam, who co-directed with Behtash Sanaeeha, the widow Mina is shown to be refreshingly capable of raising her deaf daughter on her own and navigating the minefield of a highly misogynistic society — and even (gasp) of finding love.
But as hostility against Mina builds from her family, neighbors and the authorities, disaster looms and the story grows more suspenseful, teetering on the edge of melodrama.
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