A stunning portrayal of the clash between tradition and modernity, and between manipulation and the power of love, Mehrjui’s celebrated film focuses on Reza and Leila, an attractive and affluent young couple who are deeply in love and recently married. When they discover that Leila is unable to conceive, Reza steadfastly insists it does not matter. But his mother feels otherwise: she is determined that her son have children and continue the family line. Invoking tradition, she convinces her daughter-in-law that Reza must take a second wife to produce an heir.