ROSEWATER: A TIMELY FEATURE

With all of the controversy going on these days concerning Iran it would seem that any movie based on events that took place there would be far from release. Quite the opposite is true as THE DAILY SHOW’s host Jon Stewart made his directorial debut last year with the release of ROSEWATER, just released on DVD.

The movie tells the story of Maziar Bahari (Gael Garcia Bernal), a journalist working for Newsweek who was held prisoner by the country of Iran for four months. An ex-Iranian, Bahari returned to his country of birth in 2009 to cover the elections going in on Iran at the time. More so than any other election this one seemed to be the start of a change for the country. Incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad faced stiff opposition from Mir-Hossein Mousavi, a candidate favored by many students in the country. When the film starts Bahari is chauffeured around Tehran by a young student who takes him to his friends so that he can cover more than just the story being fed by the leaders of Iran.

Bahari records conversations with these students who seem to have no fear while he himself recognizes that by recording them he could be putting them all in jeopardy. While in Tehran he also is interviewed himself by a member of THE DAILY SHOW posing as a spy who has his own television show. As the story progresses we see the election results end with a surprising win by Ahmadinejad, even after polls showed a strong lead by Mousavi. Feeling that the elections were fraudulent, the members of the Green Movement (Mousavi’s backers) take to the streets in protest. The end result was extreme violence and several deaths. As he walks the streets with the young people he has met, Bahari films the protests as well as the violence that followed.

Within days of passing along his report, Bahari is awakened by the state police and taken away to Evin Prison where he is kept for questioning. Not only is he questioned but a slow form of torture follows as well where he is systematically broken down, not physically but mentally. Through it all he remembers his sister and father, both of whom had been arrested and imprisoned by the Shah’s government long ago. Seeking strength from their memories he holds out as long as possible. All the while his interrogator Javadi (Kim Bodnia) badgers him, belittles him and questions him based on the evidence they have gathered and are using. Included in that evidence is the taped interview seen on THE DAILY SHOW their inability to realize that his is a comedy show and not one actually hosted by a spy.

Bahari’s travails lasted for four months during which time he had no contact with his then pregnant wife. Through a concerted effort just touched on in the film pressure was put on the Iranian government for his release. Those who have read about the struggle he went through or who read newspaper accounts will already know the result of his imprisonment. If not consider this a spoiler alert, he was eventually released.

There are two things about this movie that make it worth watching. First and foremost is the realization of what goes on in Iran even though it is seen through the eyes of the film makers and through Bahari’s own telling of what he went through. The film is actually based on his firsthand account and book, THEN THEY CAME FOR ME. While the Iranians are not depicted as the most evil of governments in the world the picture offered is still not one of a peace loving government willing to do the right thing.

The second reason to watch the film is it being Stewart’s first foray into directing a major motion picture. Like him or not, agree with his politics or not, the movie doesn’t take an approach that many will find fault with. It portrays a well-rounded look at the country of Iran and its leaders. Not only that the quality of film making from the camera choices made to a well-made tip of the hat to social media to the performances he gets from his major players here show that Stewart has the ability to become a major director in his own right.

In the end the question of was this film entertaining leaves me saying that yes it was while at the same time it shed a light on what was going on in Iran at the time. There is little doubt that the movie tells the story from a certain perspective but don’t all movies do that, especially movies dealing with political issues? Suffice to say that in this film it attempts to steer the story down the middle and at the same time is well made enough that you never find yourself looking at your watch wondering when it will end. ROSEWATER is a movie that is in the right place at the right time and worth watching.

Click here to order.