Sally Field

Alfred Molina

Sheila Rosenthal

Roshan Seth

Sarah Badel

Mony-Rey

Georges Corraface

Mary Nell Santacroce

Ed Grady

Marc Gowan

Bruce Evers

Jonathan Cherchi

Soudabeh Farrokhnia

Michael Morim

Gili Ben Ozilio

Racheli Chaimyan-Shitrit

Yossi Tabib

Amir Shmuel

Ya'ackov Banai

Dafna Armoni

Judith Robinson

Avraham Mor

Sasson Gabai

Ahuva Keren

Farzaneh Taidi

Yerusha Tirosh

Yosef Shiloach

Shaul Mizrahi

Harry J. Ufland

Mary Jane Ufland

Brian Gilbert

Betty Mahmoody

Peter Hannan

Jerry Goldsmith

William Hoffer

David W. Rintels

Ofer Bedarshi

Terry Rawlings

Avishay Avivi

Koby Azarly

Anat Avivi

Nic Ede

Desmond Crowe

Mike Fenton

Anthony Waye

Anthony Pratt

Joyce Gallie

Judy Taylor

Zivit Yakir

Lena Talmore

Glenn Freemantle

Drama

Thriller

Not Without My Daughter

Ufland

MGM-Pathé Communications

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

United States of America

_**American mother & daughter ‘imprisoned’ in an alien culture of a strict Muslim country**_ 

In 1984, an Iranian doctor in Michigan (Alfred Molina) insists on visiting his family back home after ten years and insists that his wife (Sally Field) & daughter come along for a 2-week trip. They are horrified to discover that the doctor has no intention of going back to America and holds them hostage in Tehran with his family, abusing the wife. To make matters worse, Iran was at war with Iraq at the time and bombing raids on Tehran were not uncommon. Can they make it back alive?       

"Not Without My Daughter" (1991) is based on Betty Mahmoody's real-life account of the same name, co-written by William Hoffer and published in 1987. The movie reminded me of “Midnight Express” (1978), which is interesting since Hoffer also co-authored the book that movie was based on, published in 1977. Both stories are about Americans trapped in Muslim nations. Everyone knows Turkey isn’t so religiously strict, but Billy Hayes in “Midnight Express” was stuck in prison there and it was a harrowing experience (read the book as it’s naturally more factual than the movie). Betty wasn’t in prison in Iran yet she was still very much a prisoner and the experience was just as harrowing.

The movie doesn’t paint all Iranians as evil, as some criticize. It just shows how the rights of women are seriously limited in such a legalistic patriarchal society. It also effectively shows how an otherwise good person can become an altogether different one under the influence of a dubious communal spirit. This happens all the time. Have you ever had a friend who acted one way in private, but very differently in a social situation with questionable peer pressure? Perhaps you yourself have done this; I have. It’s the same principle in this movie except that the “community spirit” and corresponding peer pressure involves male-dominated Islamic culture and the mistreatment of women.  

The daughter wrote her account of what happened in her 2015 book “My Name is Mahtob,” which basically corroborates her mother’s version of events while trying to be sympathetic to her father. She became a Christian and essentially points out how genuine Christians (as opposed to nominal ones) are persecuted in America by the secular religion of LIEberalism, which is ironic since America is supposed to champion religious & ideological freedom. It’s just a different kind of persecution than what Mahtob & her mother experienced in Iran.  

The film runs 1 hour, 55 minutes, and was shot mainly in Neve Ilan, Isreal, but also Ankara, Turkey (the closing scenes) and Atlanta, Georgia (the Michigan scenes).

GRADE: B

فارسی

English

Not Without My Daughter (1991) ORIGINAL TRAILER [HD]