The Story:Leila and Reza happily marry and embark on a satisfying, average, prosperous Iranian life. But, complications arise when they look into having children and find out that Leila is effectively barren and the chances of her having a child are both complicated and slim. While waiting for the results they joke with one another about who's problem it is, his or hers, and if the other would be happy with a spouse that could not bear children. Although they both agree they would still love each other and children didn't really matter, Leila is ashamed of her condition and hides it from her family, and Reza's mother is devastated that her only son will not have a child.

After looking into their options, artificial insemination, adoption, and so forth, they come to a crossroads and begin to abandon the idea of having children, until Reza''s mother begins to urge him to take a second wife. Although neither likes this idea, her urgings eventually wear Leila down and she begrudgingly supports Reza being introduced to possible second wife prospects, something he only does because she asks him too. And, at first it is actually a comfort, as Reza's reports back to Leila about the old maids, the nervous ticks, and the women with nasty attitudes he met; it gives them something to joke about and, for Leila, strengthens her bond with her husband. But, when Reza meets a woman he cannot complain about, the situation becomes more uneasy. Leila is shattered by the prospect of losing her husband, yet she does not have the strength to be selfish and stand up to Reza's mother. So, when, against his wishes, Reza takes the second wife, it will either spell the end for his and Leila's love or a new beginning.

The Film: Why do we watch foreign films? Because every country makes good movies and different countries have different sensibilities and interpretations. Such is the case Leila an Iranian film that gives insights into its culture and how modern values of family clash with the ghost of traditional ideals.

Leila and Reza are a modern couple, content with each other, dining on Asian food, watching Dr Zhivago, and it seems that they are perfectly happy. But as Reza's mother puts the pressure on both of them to have children and eventually the prospect of Reza having a second wife effectively decimates the bond he has with Leila, this is where the culture clash comes into play. I in no way blame the mother, because although it is her pleadings for a grandchild, for Reza to have an heir, that starts the chain of events, she is merely blinded by her old world traditions. She sees children as one of the main duties of marriage, and if you can't have children, what's the point? However, its much harder to say the same of Reza and Leila, both of whom wait for the other to say, "Stop", so when neither does, they walk down the path of destruction to their marriage. They seem so independent and modern, that, unlike the mother, its not tradition guiding them towards disillusion in their marriage, its pure stupidity and lack of communication. As overbearing as the mother is, all it would seem to take to end the second wife plan, would be one or the other taking a stand and saying, "No, even if we can never have our own kids, I wont be happy with a second wife in the house." So, one has to assume, since they are so seemingly forward thinking and not bound by tradition, that either they are just plain dumb and let the matriarch pressure them, or Reza harbors a secret desire for a child and Leila harbors a desire for Reza to have a son or daughter even if by another woman, yet, they don't want to share one another with anyone else.

So, it is a fascinating film, but no less a puzzling one for these Western eyes. And, that's why I watch foreign films, for foreign ideas like basing a marriage on only one or two arraigned meetings and by accepting your husbands second wife by merely glancing at her in a passing car.

The DVD: First Run Features. Well, the reason I this film gets a "Rent It" recommendation, basically lies all in the picture. Die-hard foreign film fans, used to spotty quality and lack of special edition extras may go ahead and give it a buy, but the transfer here is so lacking I have to take it down a notch and suggest a rental for average/casual DVD buyers. Picture- Letterbox. The image quality is very poor. Aside from constant spots, overall its just dirty, washed out color, and soft. It also appears to have some ghosting, low contrast on the black levels, and such. Out of the handful of Iranian films I've seen, they were of similar quality, fairly dirty prints although they were newer films, so I don't know if this is just a common problem with finding good sources for transfer or not. Sound- Farsi, 2.0 Mono with default white English subtitles. Overall a no fuss no muss soundtrack nothing dynamic to speak of, and most notably the subs had a lot of errors, like when Reeza tries to reassure Leila and says "Life is sweat." or "I swear we were nappy." Being a fan of Hong Kong cinema, sub flaws are not too distracting for me personally, but it is worth noting. Extras- 10 Chapters and thats it.