Not Without My Daughter (1991)

I'm sorry that some people feel that a true story is some sort of Iran bashing. I'm also sorry that so many middle eastern countries are primitive and have little respect for women or their right to equality.

Sally Field did a great job in this movie, and yes since it's a true story - it actually happened - how about that? Yes it made me hate Moody and his family - and why not it portrayed their evil. And evil is exactly what they were so the movie did exactly what it should have. I think this movie is another great insight as to what goes on in the middle east and certainly doesn't deserve any of the criticism found in these forums.

Fmovies: Its only a movie!!! Relax with all the serious comments about the movie trying to put down Iranians. Personally I thought this movie was a great drama. Living in Iran is nothing like living in the USA. Imagine being used to all the freedoms you enjoy in the US and suddenly find yourself in Iran.

Here you are in Iran. Strange place, strange people, restricted freedoms. Okay I can handle this for a few days I guess. Then you are told we are never going back home. Woe!!!!!!!!! Talk about a sudden feeling of fear and anger. Sally did a great job of putting you in the driver seat, right with her. All I could do was root for her to get her daughter and get the hell out of that place.

As for the comments about the mother being selfish and not respecting his wishes. She agreed to go visit his family, and he lies to her tricking her into staying.

I agree this would have been a good Lifetime drama, but not a bad movie at all. I give it an 8 out of 10.

At first I had reservations about this film until I lived in a country similar to Iran.

The fact is that no one can comprehend the differences in culture and religion until they have lived it.

Women of any nation or religion suffer from abusive relationships but as laws go in many Muslim countries, problems arise when a foreign national woman wants to leave with her children because the children are seen as belonging to the husband's family.

I did find fault with the film however, because they seemed to show alot of ugliness in the land and of the people. I find this often in films critical of Arab, Iranian, or Muslim countries. Its as if the producers look for the worst looking actors and locations they can find to make the viewers think that all the people and places in those countries are like that.

Overall I liked this film and found it true and correct. Sally Field is a great actress and played the part of Betty Mahmoody well.

Not Without My Daughter fmovies. This is an 8+ star movie in my opinion. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to figure out why the movie's been shouted down to 6.2 on IMDb. All I can say is, if the embarrassing shoe fits your backward culture, wear it.

OK, I'm supposed to fill up space, according to IMDb, so here goes.

An Iranian-American physician, living in Michigan, decides to move himself, his wife, and his daughter back to Iran, without cluing his family in to his intentions. Once in Iran, the man can't find a job, becomes completely unhinged, and refuses to let his wife and daughter return to America.

Some examples of familial warmth: the doctor doesn't allow his wife to use the telephone in her own house, enlists friends and family members to spy on her, and repeatedly beats her and threatens her with death if she tries to leave Iran with his daughter. It's like 'Father Knows Best', but with a lot more emphasis on paranoia and revenge.

Throw in scenes of daily life in Iran, and you come away with the following lesson: People who want normal lives, particularly for their wives and daughters, shouldn't move to a Moslem country.

I found 'Not Without My Daughter' compelling from start to finish. If you're used to thinking of Sally Field as Forrest Gump's Mom, this will definitely help you get over that. Sally's great.

I have seen other comments that tell "his" side of the story. He was a cruel man and basically held her hostage by not letting her leave without her daughter. He was a worm and a bully. Hurray for Betty and the bravery of her escape. I would have loved to see his face when he found out she made it back. He under estimated her--that stupid fool. He forgot that American women don't like to be bossed around. I hope he never got to see or talk to his daughter again. He doesn't deserve it. And don't believe any propaganda they try and sell you about how her poor husband got the dirty end of the stick. He pulled an underhanded sneak attack on her and didn't have the "you know what" to tell her his plans. Good for you Betty--and as for that creep and all creeps like him in Iran--good riddance. And don't buy it for a minute that Betty was lying. She wasn't. I have heard the same from other women in the same boat. She spoke the truth about everything and it is much worse than she even described.

Many people on here have said that they were not speaking Farsi in this movie. Actually they were. Most of the actors were Israelis of Persian origin. Most of the dialogue in this movie was in Farsi, not in Arabic contrary to the claims made by many who have posted here. Even the non native speakers like Alfred Molina, etc muttered lines in Farsi, not in Arabic. In fact all throughout the movie you could see banners of Farsi hanging over the streets of Tehran, and graffiti saying "Marg Bar Amreekaa." This means "Death to America" in Farsi. None of this was Arabic.

How do you say "Death to America" in Arabic? "Al Mout Li Amreeka"....this line was not once uttered throughout the entire movie. And it never appeared on a single banner or graffiti message.

There was Farsi throughout the entire movie. Just for starters basic words or phrases like "Khoda Hafez" "Salaam", "Ashpazkhaneh" etc. etc.

Farsi is a very distinct language from Arabic. Very recognizable. Even if you didn't speak farsi you could easily distinguish it by ear from Arabic. Arabic is extremely loud and guttural. In contrast Farsi is much softer. The accents of these two separate languages are entirely different.

So to the many people who said they didn't speak Farsi in this movie, you are wrong. Its been a while since I have seen it, but as far as I can remember, the only Arabic used was in prayers over the loud speakers. And when the family was performing morning prayers, they did speak Arabic, but it was ironically even in Persian accent. But this is normal. Iranians always pray in Arabic, the language of the Holy Quran. The movie was absolutely right about this.

This movie was filled with Persian culture. Even the names of the foods were Persian, not Arabic.

And remember some of the names of the characters? Ameh Bozorg, Baba Hajji, Miss Alavi, Khanum Shaheen, Aga Hakim...etc. etc.

These are literally Persian names and titles. Very authentic.

So I am really clueless as to what people are talking about when they said they only spoke Arabic in this film. Clearly not true.

A note on Persian culture and language. There is no denying that Farsi is extremely arabized Persian. Farsi belongs to the Indo European language family but has thousands of Arabic loan words. Even the name "Farsi" itself is arabized. Its actually "Parsi" but the Arabs have no "P" sound, so its always been known as "Farsi".

So although Iranian culture and the Farsi language is quite distinct from Arab culture and is Persian in origin, there is no doubt that it is at least somewhat influenced by Arabic ways. Why do you think Farsi is written with the Arabic alphabet? Why is the main religion of Iran Islam? Obviously because of the impact Arabic expansion and culture had on Persia so many centuries ago.

Throughout the movie you also saw posters of Khamenei and Khomenei. Two Iranian totalitarian clerics. These men are not Arabs they are Persian.

There were so many references to Persian in this movie. Moody even said to Mahtob (another Persian name)...."You know, I was born in Persia."

So when people accuse the producers of this film of being ignorant about Iranian culture and Farsi language, you are quite mistaken. They did a very good job, especially with filming this in Israel. They could have easily botched this movie, but for the most part they didn't.