MY FAVOURITE CAKE is a slice of life vignette with icing on the top.
Directed and written by tyro Tehran team, Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha, MY FAVOURITE CAKE tells the story of seventy year-old Mahin who lives alone in the Iranian capital. Widowed thirty years ago and her daughter and grandchild resettled overseas, she exists in a state of limbo, watching soaps as she quilts for her grandson, sleeping until noon, listening to friends complain about their ailments and accepting a blood pressure machine for her birthday from them. Age has wearied her and the custom of her country’s liberal past before morality police patrolled the streets has staled the infinite variety of her youth.
The creation of the morality police is as puzzling as modern technology. The cultural shift in her country has left her marooned, stripped of her love of fashion, music, dancing and a drop of wine.
Her rage against an attempted arrest of a young woman showing too much hair almost gets her thrown in the clink, the cocky cop relenting her rescue with disparaging sexist and ageist remarks.
This encounter sparks or reignites a righteous indignation, a rebelliousness that inspires and revels in the devilish plan to seduce a divorced taxi driver.
This quietly radical exercise culminates in Mahin inviting the cabbie, Faramarz, home for a tot, a trot and a slice of the titular cake (orange blossom and vanilla crème).
Behind closed doors and away from prying neighbours, these two septuagenarians open up about their lives, their joys and disappointments, and the way their country has moved from the garden to a petrified forest.
The starring actors play off one another beautifully, Lili Farhadpour as Mahin and Esmaeil Mehrabi as Faramarz, as seven decaders acting like seventh graders in a cute courting ritual.
MY FAVOURITE CAKE is both culturally specific and an examination of the loneliness endured by the elderly. It’s a dainty dish rich with texture and flavour.
