Both Ends of the Spectrum: 'The Mirror'

By David Eng

For my article this week, I will be talking about the Iranian film known as The Mirror, or in Iranian called Ayneh. A film made by Jafar Panahi which has a very interesting story. In this section of mine, I always try and stay spoiler free and will stay in touch with this ideal with this article also. I will, however, give a general overview of the movie and what to expect when watching. The basic plot of the film is a girl, around age seven, who just ended school. She waits for her mother, but she never shows up to pick her up. Because of this, the girl tries to find her own way home trying to have adults helps her. This plot sounds quite drab and not too exciting, but there are other aspects of the movie that make it something to remember.

            The biggest positive attribute of the film would have to be the cinematography. The camerawork is something to take note of as it tricks us as viewers into being scared for the girl in many moments in her quest home. The most memorable example of this happens during a scene when the girl crosses the road. This scene is not important, but is done very meticulously. The scene shows the traffic of the road. It portrays the traffic as hectic and volatile. Then a few scenes later, we watch the girl try and cross the street for herself. Now the interest comes in how the camera scares us into thinking that the girl might be hit by a car. Instead of showing the cars behind her close to hitting her, no cars actually come near her, or so we are shown. The camera films the girl in such a way as to not show any cars at all. Instead, the sound just becomes the sounds of traffic as we have a close/medium shot of the girl crossing the road. Any fear portrayed in the scene is created through one's imagination and is helped by the sounds of the traffic. The movie is filled with this level of not only camerawork but also sound design.

            Other than spoiling other aspects of the film, I really cannot talk about many more aspects of the film. A lot of the scenes become spoilers of one of the major aspects of the film, which is one of the reasons why this film is so strange and interesting. The film is a major recommendation because it has its merits in its cinematography and sound design, but mostly for its twist that happens in the movie. It is a scene so powerful that it itself gives the film a recommendation. Overall I would give the film a 7.5/10 due to the obvious care and consideration which has gone into the film. Despite not being a perfect score, I would highly recommend watching this film as it is short being only 95 minutes while also being a very good art film.