The Third Woman
‘The Third Woman’ is a drama about an Iranian woman in an Islamic resistance group during the post-revolutionary period. The film begins with her arrival in London to meet Ali, their leader, who is now operating in exile. She has never met him before, but has secretly desired him. She is selected for an important operation to be carried out on her return to Iran.
The film is primarily concerned with the question of sexual politics within the “progressive” Islamic ideology of the Left. The anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist movements of the Left “rediscover” Islam as a new form of identity, independent of the west and its capitalist system. However, within this regime of “democracy” the woman's identity remains the same. She is either a mother/housewife or a soldier, obeying the Islamic law.
Description source: Cinenova Catalogue (1994). Edited by Kate Norrish. Editorial committee: Elaine Burrows, Liane Harris, Helen de Witt
