PG-13 | 2h 48m | Drama | 2024
Tragically, Iman (Missagh Zareh) will soon start taking his work home to his family. The Iranian husband and father just received a promotion that qualifies him for many new government benefits. He and his wife Najmeh (Sohelia Golestani), however, remain tight-lipped discussing his work around their daughters. Iman is an investigating judge for the Islamic Revolutionary Court in contemporary Tehran, Iran.
This requires him to interrogate and pass judgment against young girls his daughters’ age as part of the crackdown on the “Woman. Life. Freedom.” demonstrations. Iman’s loyalties to the state and its Islamist ideology stresses his family well beyond its breaking point in Iranian dissident Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig.”
When he started secretly filming, director Rasoulof had already spent considerable time in Iranian prisons on various charges. While appealing his latest sentence, he was legally banned from filmmaking. He and several crewmembers eventually escaped to Germany, where the exiled filmmaker and editor Andrew Bird completed post-production. Consequently, the film qualified under eligibility rules for Germany to submit it as their official International Academy Award contender. The authenticity of its depiction of contemporary Iranian society is unimpeachable.
Crackdown
Iman is a devout regime loyalist. At the start of the film, his wife Najmeh completely shares his faith and cultural biases. Unlike their daughters, Rezvan (Mahsa Rostami) and Sana (Setareh Maleki), she has no sympathy for any of the women beaten by the Morals Police during the ongoing protests. Awkwardly, that includes Rezvan’s friend Sadaf (Niousha Akhshi), whom her daughter brings home to bandage up after she was shot by the police.Rezvan assures her mother that Sadaf was innocently swept up by the protest when the police opened fire, but Najmeh truly believes the regime can do no wrong. Nevertheless, she superficially patches up the bleeding student and sends her on her way before Iman returns home.
Frankly, Rezvan and her younger sister Sana were already causing tension for their father. They often expressed skepticism of the state-controlled media, and defiantly following the protests ignited by the suspicious death of Mahsa Amini (while in police custody) on social networks.
Despite his promotion, Iman chafes under the pressure from colleagues like his dubious “friend,” Ghaderi (Reza Akhlaghirad). Ghaderi urges Iman to approve an execution without properly investigating the case. Further stoking his paranoia, the court issues Iman a handgun for “protection,” which mysteriously disappears. Initially, Najmeh assumes he misplaced it, but Iman quickly suspects that one of their daughters took it. Unsure of the thief’s identity and motives, Iman arranges appointments for his wife and daughters with the court’s feared interrogator, which leads to even worse violations of his family’s trust.
Poisoned Ideology
Rasoulof’s screenplay represents a harrowing journey past the point of no return; Iman’s ideology so profoundly poisons his family that there can be no hope of repair. His descent into paranoia will shock many viewers. Truly, “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” serves as a bracing cautionary tale, warning against the ideology’s ability to blind and corrupt even the closest relationships. Rasoulof’s story is undeniably extreme, but grimly realistic, given the toxic incivility currently infecting political discourse in many nations.Rasoulof’s film captures the growing divide between younger, reform-advocating Iranians and the older, less sophisticated fundamentalist loyalists like Iman. While there might be parallels to other countries, Rasoulof and Bird make it clear that “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” isn’t intended to be parable by incorporating real-life smartphone footage of the “Woman. Life. Freedom.” protests. The movie’s title refers to a parasitic tree that grows over the roots of its host.
Cast Members at Risk
Merely appearing in a film directed by Rasoulof entailed risks for his Iranian castmembers, but their fierce commitment comes through in every scene. Zareh (currently forbidden from leaving Iran) portrays Iman’s slow but steady decline into cruelty and madness with horrifying believability. Likewise, Rostami and Maleki perfectly express the frustration, impatience, and fear shared by younger Iranians, as the sisters under suspicion.
However, Golestani truly deserves awards consideration for her portrayal of the traditional but protective mother. It is a richly complex performance, in ways that are difficult to describe. Like Rasoulof, Golestani has also suffered arrest for campaigning against hajib (veil) laws. She currently faces a similar exit ban to that imposed on her co-star. Clearly, she is a person of conviction, but her dedication to craft, so evident throughout the film, is just as impressive.
Frankly, “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” deserves the accolade of the best film of the year. It is also the most courageous. Rasoulof so masterfully holds the audience’s attention in such a vice-like grip, they will be caught up in the visceral family drama and forget the film’s wider implications.
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig” opens in theaters in New York and Los Angeles, with a further national rollout to follow. Very highly recommended.
