Not Without My Daughter

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For the Arrested Development episode, see Not Without My Daughter (Arrested Development episode).

Movie Poster

Not Without My Daughter is a 1991 film based on the true story of American Betty Mahmoody's escape, with her young daughter, from her husband in Iran. It was filmed in USA and Israel and It stars Sally Field and Alfred Molina.

1 Production
2 Plot
3 Criticism
4 Trivia
5 References
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Production

The movie was based on a book written by Betty Mahmoody and William Hoffer. The screenplay was written by David W. Rintels. It was directed by Brian Gilbert and filmed at GG Studios, Navehlan, Israel and in Atlanta, Georgia.

[edit] Plot

The film tells how Betty's Iranian husband convinced her to visit his family in Tehran, but then forced her to stay, becoming increasingly violent. He told Betty she could leave, but she could not take their daughter Mahtob with her; as a result, she remained confined in Iran for 18 months. Finally, Betty and Mahtob escaped Iran via Turkey.

The movie was released a few days before the Persian Gulf War was beginning. A few parts of Not Without My Daughter has been repeatedly shown by IRIB in Iran.

A few years later, Alexis Kouros (Dream Catcher Productions) directed a documentary called Without My Daughter in response to the Hollywood movie.

[edit] Criticism

Iranian reaction:

The movie has been considered widely as a propaganda movie in Iran. A Finnish documentary, Without My Daughter was made by Alexis Kouros. Kouros, said that the aim of the 90-minute documentary was to "show the lies in the American film and present the real story behind" what turned into an acrimonious custody battle for Mahtab Mahmoody.^[1]

Roger Ebert commented that:

"'Not Without My Daughter' does not play fair with its Muslim characters. If a movie of such a vitriolic and spiteful nature were to be made in America about any other ethnic group, it would be denounced as racist and prejudiced." However, Ebert's review is generally positive, particularly in the performances of Field and Molina. ^[2]

Vincent Canby stated that:

"The movie is so clumsily directed that nothing rings true, neither the idyllic scenes of Betty's family's happiness, which open the film, nor the horrors of fundamentalist fervor. The Iranian revolution appears to have taken place mostly to make life miserable for the insufferably superior Betty." ^[3]

[edit] Trivia

The movie was parodied by South Park in "Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus."
Tazin Abdullah, a Muslim student at Macquarie University, also wrote a satirical article "Not Without Her Make-Up" which examines the life of Western women from a Muslim perspective.
"Not Without My Daughter" is the name of the 21st episode of Arrested Development.