A story about love, loneliness and courage, ‘My Favourite Cake’ follows Mahin (Lili Farhadpour), a 70 year old widow who leads a solitary life in Tehran. After 30 years of widowhood, Mahin decides to venture forth and look for companionship.
Capturing a scarcely explored yet prevalent experience, writers and directors Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha have collaborated to examine the life of an elderly widow yearning for a change in her life. Chronicling Mahin’s routine, an afternoon with her friends and a chance encounter with Faramarz (Esmaeel Mehrabi), we are invited into a secluded and wishful life, seeking company and intimacy.
Played by Lili Farhadpour, Mahin is presented as a timid, quiet and shy woman. Living under the oppressive gaze of the morality police in Iran, she finds it hard to put herself out there and look for a companion at her age. Exploring the persecuted life of a woman in Tehran without a heavy handed approach, Moghadam and Sanaeeha telegraph the weight of the regime that still exists in our day and age, subjugating women and treating them like second class citizens.
Resting in a park as she looks for someone to befriend, Mahin hears a commotion which turns out to be the morality police trying to arrest a young woman for not adhering to the dress code. Interfering, she manages to save the woman from imprisonment and instills a strong message in her about standing your ground even through the brutal conditions they have to endure. Reminding us all that even though the guidance patrol enforce Sharia law on its citizens, Mahin can still recall a time before the regime and conveys the importance of remaining steadfast and fighting against being put down.
The core of the film lies in the accidental encounter between Mahin and Faramarz. She notices him at a pensioner’s restaurant and follows him to the taxi rank he works at. Waiting for him to return from a drive, the two meet and Mahin invites Faramarz to her house. The film succeeds in portraying the shyness and quieted excitement between the two people.
Relaying that they are both lonely and open to companionship, the two start exploring each others profile, their background and their current circumstances. Covering intimate details and familiarizing themselves with one another, ‘My Favourite Cake’ distills the essence of an amicable and enthusiastic probing of another person's life. Capturing Mahin and Faramarz’s longing for another person in their lives, the two find common ground on a lot, and rejoyce in sharing with one another.
Discovering they’re of the same ilk when it comes to opinions on religion and the country’s current regime, Mahin and Faramarz spend the evening together drinking wine, sharing, eating and dancing. Quickly forming a bond, the two form a sort of dance around each other, reminiscent of a years long relationship. Mahin gathers herbs from her garden whilst Faramarz fixes the yard lights. They savor their conversation and thoroughly enjoy each others company, indicative of the lack of love in their respective lives over the last few decades.
Capturing the magical evening, ‘My Favourite Cake’ presents a unique and genuine tale of happiness shared by two people who have longed for companionship for too long. The evening concludes on an unexpected note however, when Mahin discovers Faramarz to have passed. She tries to resuscitate him to no avail. Going through shock and grieving, she decides to bury him in her garden, with the film closing on a shot of Mahin from the rear, keeping her current emotional state undisclosed.
With a shocking twist, ‘My Favourite Cake’ cuts short a magical evening filled with laughs and kindness, inviting rumination on the fragile state of being. Even though Mahin and Faramarz had the chance to spend a single evening together, the two could be said to have enjoyed more than others may in their lifetime. Perhaps too rash to have formed a connection akin to love, the time they shared was that of joy and affection, reminding us to savor any and all opportunity we have to love and be loved.
Heartbreaking yet hopeful, ‘My Favourite Cake’ presents a woman under unique circumstances but with universal qualms on life, love and self. Daring to reshuffle her life, Mahin ventures forth to attain her goals, managing to capture an unforgettable evening with Faramarz. Even though the ultimate outcome is saddening, the opportunity and chance to have had such an evening will remain with her for the rest of her days.
Score: 4/4
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