Film Review - My Favourite Cake
Images courtesy of Vendetta Films.
Written and directed by Iranian filmmaking couple Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha, My Favourite Cake is a devastatingly bittersweet film about late-life romance in Tehran.
When we first meet 70-year-old Mahin (Lili Farhadpour), she is woken up by the harsh ringtone of the phone, which has rudely interrupted her usual routine of sleeping until noon. The retired nurse lives alone; her husband has been dead for some time and her children have moved away.
On a rare occasion, she sees her small group of friends, who kindly bestow on her a blood pressure monitor as an early birthday present. Trapped in a daily cycle of mundane loneliness, in a country where her rights and freedom are constantly under threat, Mahin has limited options to break free from her country’s regime. Nevertheless, she attempts to rekindle her love life.
During a chance encounter at a pensioners’ restaurant, Mahin meets Faramarz (Esmaeel Mehrabi), an unmarried taxi driver, and invites him to her home for an intimate night of cake and illicit wine. The two bond as they discuss the recent past when their country was free, and share their hopes for the future and their fears of dying alone.
The icing on the film’s cake are the stunning performances by Farhadpour and Mehrabi, as their first date unravels in a beautiful awkwardness. Mohamad Hadadi’s camerawork is light touch, allowing the pair’s newfound intimacy to be uninterrupted, weaving around them as they dance like nobody’s watching.
As Mahin puts the finishing touches on the titular orange blossom and vanilla creme cake in one of the closing scenes, you can not help but want to take a bite of the mouthwatering delight. But just as the tartness of the orange blossom cuts through the sweetness of the vanilla creme cake, the charming film is laced with bitterness.
Underneath the humour and sweetness of two lonely people finally enjoying the intimacy of each other’s company, the film also lays bare the oppressive regime in Iran.
As a result, Moghadam and Sanaeeha were both banned from leaving their country and were unable to attend the film's premiere at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year. They currently face a filmmaking ban and criminal charges for making propaganda against the regime.
While some may frown at the film’s sharp aftertaste, it is a pointed reminder that Mahin and countless other women live in a society that punishes them for daring to pursue their dream of happiness and confines them to a life of isolation.
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My Favourite Cake is screening from Thursday the 5th of December. For tickets and more info, click here.