Goodbye Life (2006)

Genres - Drama, War  |   Run Time - 90 min.  |   Countries - Iran  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Mark Deming

A woman goes into a dangerous place and finds more horrors than she expected in this drama, the first feature film from director Ensieh Shah-Hosseini. In the early 1980's, Maryam (Ladan Mostofi) is an Iranian photojournalist who has fallen into a deep depression following the breakup of her marriage. Outwardly looking for a challenging assignment but secretly feeling almost suicidal, Maryam persuades her editor to send her to the front lines of the war between Iraq and Iran. Maryam is embedded with an Army battalion, but the commander is taking no chances and refuses to allow her to see the fighting up close. Determined to see the action, Maryam slips away, but the closer she gets to the fighting the more unnerved she becomes, and she turns to a soldier for help. The soldier turns out to be one of Iran's leading commanders in the field, Beshar (Mohammad Mokhtari), and he arranges for Maryam to be sent to a safe area away from the battle. However, it turns out this safe zone was just attacked by Iraqi forces, and Maryam happens upon a wedding party that was decimated by gunfire. Eventually, Maryam gathers her courage and returns to the front lines, where she has an unexpected reunion with Beshar. Goodbye, Life (aka Adieu la Vie and Shab Behheir Farmandeh) was inspired by writer and director Ensieh Shah-Hosseini's own experiences as one of Iran's first female war reporters.

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Keywords

photojournalist, war