Rhino Season (2012)
7/10
Worth-watching!
5 December 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Represented by my all-favorite director and producer Martin Scorsese who actually doesn't need any introduction, comes Iranian film debut - Rhino Season by Kurish-Iranian director Bahmad Ghobadi. Ghobadi left Iran in 2010 and never returned.

Starring Monica Bellucci, Turkish living legend Yilmaz Erdogan and Behrouz Vossoughi's first film after 20 year of absence in the big screen, this movie is what I call pure Masterpiece! I know most of the people won't agree with me, but this film has this Nuri Bilge Ceylan's style which I admire so strongly. It's slow paced drama that covers Iranian revolution and a love story that faces hardships and tragedy as a result of this revolution.

Shot entirely in Turkey, the movie follows the ordeals of Sahel, a Kurdish-Iranian Poet, whose poems were misconstrued by the post- revolution regime of Iran as political, and landed him in jail for 30 Years. After he is released from jail, he travels to Turkey in search of his wife (played by Monica Bellucci) who is now remarried. Movie also stars some of the well-known young actors like Beren Saat and popular singer in Europe – Arash Labaf. The acting in this movie is phenomenal, especially by Belucci who speaks decent Farsi and demonstrates the ideal Iranian lady.

The film shows the consequences of 30 years' absence of a husband who was thought to be dead and a story of a woman who was trapped from the beginning. The ending of the movie is left entirely up to the viewer. What amazes me the most that Rhino Season was independent production on low budget and none of the actors including Monica Bellucci were paid for their work. Nonetheless, the movie turned out to be remarkable! It is a pity that this movie has not been exposed to a wider audience.

Note: If to compare, this movie doesn't come close to other Iranian master-crafts like "A Separation" which was directed by Ashgar Farhadi and won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film category back in 2012. Nevertheless, this movie has a message to the audience who will understand it.

Note: Bahman Ghabodi's another known film "Nobody Knows About Persian Cats" was shown in Cannes Film Festival in 2009 which is also worth watching.

In one word: for someone who enjoys political dramas like "Argo" or "Munich", this movie will catch your attention easily.
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