Though it is, in and of itself, a highly engaging film, Mohammad Rasoulof’s The Seed of the Sacred Fig is one of those rare movies in which the story of its making is more exciting than the end product could hope to be. An Iranian thriller that takes the country’s fascistic theocratic regime to task, it, along with its director, had to be smuggled out of the country, allowing the movie to premiere at Cannes and Rasoulof to find safe harbour in an undisclosed German location, where he currently remains. It’s a true real-life thriller and we should be thankful for Rasoulof’s bravery and luck – not only has a political artist escaped oppression, the film he brought with him is pretty damn great too.
Set amidst the 2022 protests sparked by the killing of student Mahsa Amini by the Iranian police for the crime of not wearing her hijab correctly, The Seed of the Sacred Fig follows three women as they are each moved by the protests in their own ways, all while the family patriarch sinks into a dangerous, misogynistic paranoia. These women are frightened and conservative mum Najmeh (Soheila Golestani), 21 year old student Rezvan (Mahsa Rostami), who has some more radical friends, and rebellious teenager Sana (Setareh Maleki), who is simultaneously excited and sickened by all the footage of young women rebelling and the state’s brutish reactions.
Attempting to rein in ‘his’ women is father Iman (Missagh Zara), a craven coward of a man who stands for nothing except his own reputation. His recent promotion to ‘inspecting judge’ has given him a real head of steam that comes crashing down when he loses his perk-of-the-job new pistol (maybe the most Chekov-ed gun I’ve ever seen in a film), a mistake that has him immediately blaming his daughters.
Rasoulof, frequently using real footage of the 2022 riots, draws constant parallels between the structural misogyny of the Iranian state and the more pathetic personal misogyny of individual Iranian men, two sides of the same furious coin, desperate to keep women silent and invisible. Just as he did with his equally excellent previous film, There Is No Evil, about the death penalty in Iran, Rasoulof refuses to have structural forces let individual men off the hook for their personal decisions, and the result is a story of real moral clarity and force, brought to life by well-written and acted characters.
The Seed of the Sacred Fig, at nearly three hours, is very long, and you do feel that a little bit as Iman’s investigation of his own family spins in circles for a while, but it all comes to a head in a real heart-in-mouth finale. An extended set-piece that takes the action away from Tehran to an altogether more ancient and remote part of rural Iran, it is a tonal leap from the rest of the film, but it more than makes up for it by just being really, really exciting, all intricate plans, remarkably beautiful locations, and head-spinning camerawork. It’s a thrilling, and even darkly funny, way to close out a film that balances its profoundly felt political and moral themes with plenty of genuine entertainment, a rare combo.
Jack Blackwell – Film Reviews 