Letters From Iran ( Manon Loizeau, 2011): France

Reviewed by Jose De Anda. Viewed at the SBIFF 2012.

A very revolutionary film. An excellent documentary. I really enjoyed the camera work, which I’m usually not expecting in a documentary. Say color, I would not expect this in a documentary film either. The story is intact and the footage is so stunning that it is inspirational. It’s very original in the sense that Iran “Kick started” the contemporary revolutionary social democratic movement we are seeing in the middle east.

Camera work in this film was surprising. I like how the camera panned up when the images of victims of the revolution were shown. The large amount of interviews and footage from phones and such portable less conspicuous filming mediums limits the subject of panning and such but the director and or cinematographer were right on.

It was very strong when he used the red to draw sympathy, attention, understanding and emotion from the viewer. He was also panning upwards which could be construed as beating death, rising above or being above. This was one of the stronger points of this film, close second to theme.

Theme without a doubt was the strongest theme. All over the world hard working innocent people are let down by their governments and the moment they say a word or do anything against them a brutal retaliation ensues. The villains of the film, the Iranian President, puppet of the real boss the Ayatollah, and the Bassiji are grotesquely brutal. They even goes to the extent to torture one of the film makers.

The poor film maker had over 50 cigarettes put out on his head and he said that when he arrived the cell he was in had a bloody mess all over. The prison he was held in was a grotesque torture center. The torturers were especially evil in that they tried to hid the evidence of torture. A pre attempt at silencing a voice.

This film gave a very valuable lesson at the end. Forgiveness. The man who made this film, who was also tortured and imprisoned was so calm, tranquil and educated that he forgave his torturer. He understood the truth, that not only he was a victim but also his torturer. If all of us were this educated tyranny would have a very short shelf life. The truth of the story is that people that carry out orders are victimized in conflicts greatly. Examples of this are all of our wars.

I really enjoyed this film, I think it was one of the best documentaries of the festival. It had a strong message presented in a strong way. Films like this need to be played in front of mass audiences and studied in classrooms worldwide. I appreciate the risk and effort of all the collaborators in this film for they took a great risk in making this revolutionary film.