The Seed of the Sacred Fig

“Close to three hours long, it had me on the edge of my seat for the last hour. It did threaten to veer into full horror movie mode, but the real political stakes are vey high and so that direction is not inappropriate. The director recently fled Iran to avoid a prison sentence for his filmmaking. 5 cats.

“Noms for acting, editing and cinematography come to mind. Screened at Telluride-by-the-Sea.”

Brett says: “The foreboding changing of the tides sits at the forefront of THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG as Tehran, Iran, stands on guard against cultural and political unrest through the use of revolutionary courts designed to stymie the groups of ‘radical’ ideologies viewed as an affront to traditional values in the country. The focus is on a family of four. Iman is the patriarch, caught between being the type of  man with whom he seems to be most comfortable at home alongside his wife Najmeh and two daughters Rezvan and Sana and another side of life in which he works for the theocratic government where he is very much a civil servant or pawn under an institutional leviathan.

“The evolution of the plot is clever in that Iman’s status and transitions in power at home develops with the further he gets to the threshold of being something more in the eyes of his fellow law enforcers. Iman is portrayed as one who is clearly playing two sides of the same coin, providing some seemingly appropriate give-and-take with his wife and two daughters, while putting up a front outside of the home that he has what it takes to be a stick-to-tradition investigator. Which is the actual front though? The similarity in both roles is how control and power is really just a mirage and uncertainty is the real constant; that is, Iman wants to seem like he has authority and is in charge in either setting, but he also shows instances of being willing to be reasonable and compromise the two conflicting existences.

“Iman’s family is very aware of the fights against oppression developing in the country, and they even fly outside the expectations of tradition in their own respective experiences, despite having a father at the helm that must go along with the strictness of the courts. The pressure of aligning with the powers that be despite their own individual convictions of morality is front and center of each day of their lives.

“With the tug-of-war between expectations and personal ethics, the plot ratchets up the tension as the government’s reactionary responses to challenges to their authority prove to be widening the fracture in society for the family where sides must be chosen so that the chasm in-between does not swallow them up. The pressure for Iman to move up in status begins as a notion more about survival and family preservation than anything else. However, despite his nervous tilt, he is devout–make no mistake–and difficult decisions must be made throughout where faith and family clash as the more narrowed central conflict within the home presents itself whether he’s ready for it or not.

“The title is a metaphorical parable of sorts and is presented during the opening title cards. As one seedling from a fig is produced, the subsequent growth requires wrapping itself around another tree to thrive, eventually choking that tree out.

“As tensions mount, director Mohammad Rasoulof goes heavy on the melodrama, but the heightened style is delivered exceptionally well. The actual details that comprise the central conflict in the film are sometimes a head-scratcher when it comes to plausibility and actual motivations, especially when the wild escalations are plentiful. However, the suspension of disbelief is much more easily forgiven because of how Rasoulof and cast deliver it.

“4 CATS OUT OF 5“