Synopsis:
An official is sent from his home in
Tehran to hear the final appeal of a woman sentenced to death, a political
prisoner. The official's wife of nearly 20 years, Fereshteh Samimi, writes him a
letter to read when he reaches the hotel - the story of her student days during
the revolution of 1978. We see the story in flashbacks as he reads: she leaves
her province on scholarship, joins a Communist youth group, avoids arrest, and
comes under the sway of a suave older man, Roozbeh Javid, a literary-magazine
editor. As she tells her husband about the hidden half of her life, Fereshteh
asks that he listen to the woman facing execution, a woman and therefore one of
Iran's hidden half.
Brian's
Rating: B- : I do not see too many Iranian made movies, but in an continuing
effort to try things outside the Hollywood box, this ended up on our queue. I
don't have much to compare to in the line of Iranian film making, but the
production value was horrible. It looked like it was filmed on a VCR recorder
from 1986. Maybe it was.
Additionally, it is quite apparent that the talent pool for actors and actresses
in Iran is still developing (to put it nicely). It was not terrible acting, but
it was nothing more than mediocre. At least it was good enough to not be
distracting to the presentation as a whole.
Despite the lack of tools however, there was artistic talent evident with the
director. Nothing earth-shatteringly original, but well done. It was
successful in conveying the message that I believe the director wanted to
convey. The message being a personalized look into the tumultuous late 70's of
Iranian history with regards to the sweeping Communist movement springing forth
from the people.
I would not say this is an excellent film, however I would recommend it, if for
no other reason than it is good to expand your horizons. If you're up to it try
something new and give it a gander.
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