Watched in the cinema (199th visit in 2024)

We thought we knew everything there was to know about the bloody protests in Iran. But the documentary cell phone footage that director Mohammad Rasoulof cuts into his feature film far surpasses the television images of the time. Security forces shoot indiscriminately into cars, beat defenceless people lying on the ground and assault children. A film sequence shows the extent of the violence even more drastically. Daughter Rezvan (Mahsa Rostami) brings her friend Sadaf (Niousha Akhshi) home seriously injured. Mother Najmeh (Soheila Golestani) tends to her wounds in a long shot. She uses tweezers to carefully remove small pellets from the left side of Sadaf's face. She had been shot directly in the face with a shotgun. In slow motion, the mother rinses the bullets into the sink; the blood on her hands can barely be washed off.

Iranian cinema has often been praised for producing subtle masterpieces, despite and precisely because of censorship. Mohammad Rasoulof, who was sentenced to eight years in prison for his artistic work and secretly fled Iran for Europe shortly before this year's Cannes festival, takes a different approach with his new work. The criticism of his country is unvarnished, fearless and solely committed to showing the world the truth. However, this does not make "Les Graines du figuier sauvage" a pamphlet, but a cinematic work of art that is both aesthetically brilliant and politically stirring at the same time. Anyone who is not interested in the social conditions in the mullah dictatorship will also be able to enjoy the film first and foremost as a multi-layered family drama. Not to mention the masterful dramaturgy of suspense, which alone is worth a visit to the cinema.

No viewer will miss the gun that is repeatedly brought into the picture. And for several good reasons. Firstly, the film follows the classic cinema rule that such a weapon will be fired at some point, at the latest during the spectacular showdown. Secondly, the gun that is handed to the newly appointed examining magistrate for defense purposes also stands for the violence that has been sweeping the country not just since the "Woman, Life, Liberty" demonstrations. And thirdly, the revolver also triggers the thrill. Because at some point it disappears from the bedside drawer at home. If the examining magistrate doesn't find it, he faces the premature end of his career and even a prison sentence.

During the protests of 2022, Mohammad Rasoulof was imprisoned in Tehran's notorious Evin prison. In the eyes of the regime, he had made "propaganda against the system" with his three previous films. While in prison, he met a senior employee of the prison who confessed to him that he wanted to hang himself - because of his hatred of his work and the overwhelming pangs of conscience. A little of this has also found its way into the character of the investigating judge. Iman's (Misagh Zareh) character is not sadistic, he is not portrayed as a monster, but as a caring family man. It is not the people who ruin their families and the country. It is the system that is destroying them.

The character of wife and mother Najmeh is even more complex. Although she has her husband's back, she also challenges him and balances out the conflicts between father and daughters as best and as long as she can. Each and every member of the family appears as authentic as one would expect from other Iranian master directors, above all Asghar Farhadi. From the fine web of tenderness and care, of fears and betrayal, Mohammad Rasoulof spins the fuse that finally causes the dream of a loving home to explode under the pressure of the system.

Nevertheless, "Les Graines du figuier sauvage" is not a pessimistic film. Its ending belongs to the documentary cell phone videos. This time, they do not show state brutality. Instead, they show happy women burning their headscarves and spreading their fingers in a victory sign. The foreign representative of German film has now taken up the torch of the political message. It is sending the co-production into the Oscar race for best non-English-language film as the German entry. Not a bad sign in view of the German government's long-standing soft stance towards the Mullah regime.