Considering all the norms from which Nargess departs, it may seem surprising that the film was made at all. It honestly and sympathetically represents people who live out­side strict Islamic law, giving profound com­plexity and humanity to its portrait of two very different women. Nargess was also produced, co-written and directed by a woman. However, when one thinks of the numerous Iranian films which in recent times have pushed at the boundaries of tradition, and that the film won a prize for Best Direction at the International Film Festival in Tehran, there can be little doubt that this 'new wave' of Iranian cinema is achieving its due respect and autonomy.

Testing her country's rather grim censor­ship code to the limit, director Rakhshan Bani-Etemad interlaces (and gives new life to) two of cinema's well-worn elements: the gangster genre and tiie ill-fated love triangle.

Afagh (played by the impressive Farimah Farjami), is an aging petty thief who is losing her beauty and is in danger of losing her young lover to the much younger, and more virtuous Nargess. Since his adolescence, Adel has been Afagh's companion in love and crime, living in the underground world of unemployment and addiction and now, with the appearance of Nargess, he is determined to go straight. Hon­est work, however, proves hard to find.

Though Adel (played by Poorarab, star of Iran's top grossing film The Bride) is an appeal­ing and convincing object of contention, the film's real focus is on its two extraordinary female characters. Through them, Nargess becomes a powerful vehicle for a rich and intelligent exploration of the vulnerable posi­tion of women on the margins of Iranian soci­ety, and their relationships within that masculine world.