Rosewater (2014)

Jack and I throughly enjoyed comedian Jon Stewart's feature directing/writing debut, a drama based on the memoir of Maziar Bahari's 2009 imprisonment in his native Iran. Gael García Bernal's portrayal is so positive that it lightens what could have been a deeply depressing movie. We may have wondered at the casting of Bernal (last blogged in Casa di Mi Padre), a Mexican, as the Iranian journalist, but his acting skills are so developed that we had no problem once we saw what he did with it. The co-star, playing Javadi (no relation, I think, to the character in Homeland) but referred to as Rosewater for his scent, is also not Iranian but a Dane named Kim Bodnia (he was in the fabulous In a Better World (Hævnen) but I failed to write about him). Dimitri Leonidas, who plays Davood, is English, there's a Turk and an Egyptian, too, but the rest of the cast that's supposed to be Iranian is. I did instantly recognize the lovely voice of Iranian Shohreh Aghdashloo (Oscar-nominated for House of Sand and Fog (2003)), as Bahari's mother, when I heard it in the very beginning.

Bahari appeared on Stewart's Daily Show in that year, which had a direct impact on his imprisonment, and the segment is recreated in the movie with Daily Show correspondent Jason Jones playing himself. After his release, Bahari wrote the book Then They Came for Me: A Family's Story of Love, Captivity, and Survival with Aimee Molloy. Stewart has a sure hand behind the camera, and uses a few inventive cinematic techniques, such as displaying his character's thoughts on the sides of buildings as he walks down the street.

If you listen to the clips on amazon of the Howard Shore (most recently scored A Dangerous Method) soundtrack, you'll hear Aghdashloo's voice over most of the first track.

I've read nothing but raves, but Rotten Tomatoes' critics are averaging only 74% and audiences are at 80. But, like Birdman, it's in the top fifteen (#13 to Birdman's 10) at the box office despite showing in a fraction of the number of screens as the bigger earners. Check it out. It's worth your time and money.