Mohammad Rasoulof’s splendid family and political thriller is a major event

Sentenced to eight years in prison in early May in Iran, Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof fled his country in May, and his new film received a Special Jury Prize at the last Cannes Film Festival. The film directly references the protests that followed the death of Mahsa Amini two years ago, on September 16, 2022.

If cinema and politics often make common sense, Seeds of the wild fig tree by Mohammad Rasoulof is a landmark. It is rare for a film of nearly three hours to keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish with such verve, relaunches and talent, while demonstrating such asceticism. It is all the art of director, stage director and screenwriter of Rasoulof, who creates what turns out to be one of the best films of this year 2024, in theaters Wednesday, September 18.

Iranian dissident filmmaker like his colleagues and compatriots Jafar Panahi and Mostafa Aleahmad, Mohammad Rasoulof creates a work that indicts the Iranian regime through the story of a future investigating judge whose service weapon has disappeared. Under sentence of eight years in prison, five of which are applicable, he fled his country illegally last May and was able to present his film at the Cannes Film Festival.

Mohammad Rasoulof uses in Seeds of the wild fig tree of a constantly renewed art of storytelling, yet reduced to a family – a couple and their two daughters (a teenager and a young adult) –, without known actors. They carry a simple, exciting and edifying story, a pretext for a subtle criticism.

While Tehran is going through a period of political and social crisis and demonstrations, Iman has just been promoted to investigating judge at the revolutionary court of Tehran. Disillusioned and aware of the absurdity of the system and its injustices, Iman nevertheless continues to comply with it. But one day, he realizes that he has lost his service weapon and suspects his student daughters and his wife of having stolen it. They will then suffer his anger and his increasingly vindictive law.

Through this almost anecdotal story, Mohammad Rasoulof films a metaphor of the Iranian socio-political context. The Tehran regime is shaken by the movement “Woman, Life, Liberty!” since the death of Mahsa Amini two years ago on September 16, 2022. Shot in CinemaScope, Seeds of the wild fig tree is interspersed with images of demonstrations, police violence and violent arrests, filmed on a cell phone by Rasoulof, which brings a stunning realism to the film.

We understand that THE Seeds of the wild fig tree – which won a Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival – displeases the mullahs so much that Mohammad Rasoulof fires broadsides at the Iranian theocratic regime. If a film is not enough to change the world, the filmmaker hits where it hurts, with an art of dramaturgy that is as exciting as a thriller. So many criteria, artistic and ideological, that make Seeds of the wild fig tree a major work, which adds to the already prestigious list of achievements of its director.

Gender : Drama/Thriller
Director: Mohammad Rasoulof
Actors: Soheila Golestani, Setareh Maleki, Missagh Zareh, Mahsa Rostami
Country : Iran/France/Germany
Duration : 2h48
Exit : Wednesday, September 18, 2024
Distributer : Pyramid Distribution
Synopsis: In a Tehran shaken by political and social unrest, investigating judge Iman discovers that his weapon has disappeared, he suspects his wife and daughters, imposing draconian measures that put a strain on family ties.