On one of those nights holed up in Naty’s Mom’s house we picked up this DVD. The whole process of picking up physical things to watch movies now seems antiquated.
I looked it up as Naty popped it in the DVD player. It had amazing scores on IMDB. Then as it started playing I realized it was in Farsi with Spanish subtitles.
I picked it up with English subtitles. Really glad I did. The film starts off like many independent movies with a ton of focus on a situation which might not receive much attention in another movie. Then, the movie completely rids itself of its indie feel. The plot is gripping, with multi-layered and enthralling writing. I could not stop watching. The pacing was excellent. The acting was absolutely chilling. I have not watched a foreign movie this good since Biutiful.
The characters are real people, which will present problems to some viewers. No one is without blame, although some are better than others. The movie really centers around responsibility and what it means to be a good man and Muslim.
The portrait of mental illness and Alzheimer’s is really hard to watch. The performances are so real. Not one act feels overblown. The movie is dry and tough, especially with the country’s backdrop, but doesn’t try to bash you with its themes.
I’d suggest you just watch it without seeing the trailer, but here it is if you’re curious. The first one has English subtitles. The second is in Spanish.