The Day I Became a Woman (2000)

A good example of how unfair the movie industry world can be. A very bad Romanian movie, [4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile](http://www.

A poetic cinematic triptych, the stories are loosely connected, but the images are striking. Perhaps there is a thread between the simple childish pleasure of sharing a treat, the battle for independence (that feverish bike scene) and then the delayed pleasure for an old woman at long last achieved, but perhaps not so meaningful.

Like most anthology films it's a mixed bag. I much preferred the first segment, with its reasonably straightforward storyline and strong statement of the overall theme of womens' subordination through the actions of adults and children, to the other two, the first of which hits you over the head with a feminist mallet (the female cyclist versus the fanatic horsemen) or becomes enmeshed in Fellini-esque, surrealist symbolism (the old woman, liberated by the death of her husband, ferrying her newfound wealth, via children, out of Iran, by sea).