The Mare

Noted Iranian actress Susan Taslimi plays an impoverished single mother who agees to marry off her 13-year-old daughter to a middle-aged man in return for a mare, which will help her earn an income and provide for her younger children. Director Ali Zhekan paints a stark picture of poverty and patriarchy in rural Iran (the mother stores her rice in a container hidden in a tree; her brother, who brokered the wedding, mercilessly beats the recalcitrant child), but this 1986 film is distinguished mostly by Taslimi's increasingly fiery performance as the mother decides to defend her daughter's freedom.

• Release date
• January 1, 1986
• Runtime
• 108 min
• Director
• Ali Zhekan

Cast

Susan Taslimi Rezvaneh Hossein Mahjoub Rahmat

F

Firouz Behjat-Mohamadi Ghodrat

A

Ataollah Zahed Nooragha

F

Farhad Khanmohammadi Aghbay

M

Maliheh Nazari Halimeh

M

Mojilong Danespooy Golbooteh

P

Parvin Hazrati Robabeh