Director: Iram Haq
Writer: Iram Haq
Starring: Amrita Acharia, Ola Rapace, Prince Singh, Rabia Noreen, Trond Fausa Aurvaag, Tobias Santelmann
Runtime: 96 mins
Rating: 14A
Do you ever find yourself locked in your own thoughts, with the rest of the world breathing down on you? Iram Haq’s debut film I Am Yours puts such a situation into perspective. Set in the beautiful city of Oslo, Norway, I Am Yours follows the story of Mina (Amrita Acharia), a twenty-something-year-old single mother from the region’s expatriate Pakistani community. Aspiring to be an actress, Mina falls into a self-created black hole, where her bad decisions and actions have made her family outcasts within the community.
What Haq presents is a portrait study of a woman who is bound by societal complexities, community needs, and the bad luck of poor decision making. Mina is a confused, unstable, and emotional character who is always on the edge of breaking down. Acharia does a brilliant job of capturing her qualities on camera, delivering the emotional scenes very well and really keeping the character consistent throughout the film. There is an evolution of her character that can clearly be observed, from what initially feels like a selfish woman to someone who finally starts putting the pieces of her life together. Her supporting cast members are equally good, with Rabia Noreen as another highlight portraying Mina’s mother, Samina. With that said, some performances didn’t quite hit the mark, including that of Ola Rapace who plays Jesper, one of Mina’s love interests. A great actor in his own right, his performance in I Am Yours was rather toned-down, and didn’t have the oomph ones hopes for throughout the film.
This film deals with very delicate and complex themes. The idea of a girl from a Pakistani community having an open relationship with men, kissing in public, and even going beyond that is a major no-no. It also touches on the relationships between family members, in particular an unrestricted relationship between a mother and her daughter. The film handles all of these various themes and elements with maturity and complexity, analyzing every moment and then tracking back the effects of such moments to the primary character.
The simplicity with which the film is shot is quite nice. There are no gimmicks, and the music choices are rather interesting as well. The only criticism lies in the pace of the film. While it builds the tension beautifully as the film progresses, there are some scenes that are simply unecessary. Some take the character a step back from the progression of the film, which may add value to defining Mina but sometimes take away from the viewing experience. One element within the pace of the film that did work, however, was the mature handling of the climax. Sometimes, a climax becomes a gigantic spiral downward to no-mans-land, but the climax in this film is used to spark another chain of events, as well as another side of Mina, and is one that takes the film towards a rather interesting conclusion.
Iram Haq has put together an interesting piece of film with I Am Yours, tackling delicate elements and then putting forward a story that people can reflect on and think about. While not perfect, her directorial debut is definite proof that Haq can dig deep and present something that is both thought-provoking and emotional. I cannot wait to see more from her down the road.
Photo Credits: Toronto International Film Festival
