AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Micah Lloyd Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

sergeantmajorh I normally don't review however, after reading some of the reviews that were poor I wanted to review this. The story is a horror story of a Jewish family escaping from the horror of an oppressive thug country. Having traveled to the Middle East and miles from Iran, having friends that went through this very scenario, this movie was hard to watch. The acting was good and I was well pleased with Adrian Brody's acting as well. Knowing what life is like there, this movie was riveting to watch and well made. Life there is a horror story for anyone that is not a zealot for the religious government. It is hard to believe that life is like this anywhere in the world today living in the west. People are treated with pure terror that are not brain washed or part of those systems. The story was well told and the acting was good. Nearly a 10 rating from me having witnessed life in that part of the world. I believe this is a good movie to watch if you don't mind suspense. I am not sure if what I have written is a spoiler but marked as such just to be safe. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to see how hard life is in that part of the world. Harsh living unless you are wealthy and part of the system. If not, life is harsh at best. Jews are not likely to live at all there let alone living well today. I have a dear friend, Jewish-Persian who fled during this period and some of the depictions are spot on. Well worth watching.

Nadia Marques de Carvalho I am actually shocked at how bad the acting is in this film - I can't figure if it's the screenplay or the actual acting that slows the pace down considerably. I have read the book, which was an exhilarating read but nothing special, and being Iranian I could relate and understand the story within the context. My main issues with the film is that it comes across very insincere because it is spoken in English, phrases which would sound beautiful and more powerful in the native Persian, sound dramatic and silly, which detract from the film's earnestness. I understand if the director wants to reach an English - speaking audience, but as a British - Iranian watching non - Iranian actors speak with such a horrific Iranian accents that metamorphosis into Russian for some reason, is horrific. It is simply not credible.Naturally, Shohreh Aghdashloo's acting is impeccable as always - if anything she should have been chosen for the lead role instead of Salma. I would recommend the film 'The Stoning of Soraya M' if you'd like to better understand the social context following the Iranian Revolution of 1979.

DominaTroy This movie, to me, was extremely non believable considering that it is a true story based on the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Opening, we are introduced to our location, Tehran, Iran with a gathering of people at a party. From that moment, the first thought was that the selection on actors i.e. Selma Hayek and most others, were not cast correctly as Iranian descent/Middle Eastern actors. The set, background, was so fake, I felt like I was watching, and this is very difficult to describe, a clip on "how to make a film set look real: The beginning stages." From that moment on, not one set of dialogue, as a reviewer said before me, made any sense. Nothing was played out, and the movie lacked a true plot. This is a truly discouraging and disappointing experience while watching a movie based on the true events of the Jewish/Muslim conflict during the Iranian Revolution of the time. I would not watch this movie if you are familiar with the history, a true movie buff and critic, or put off by or offended by cultural/ethnicity casting. I believe what was done here was offensive. I do also think that many will find that this is a good movie and enjoyable, however, I hope that by picking certain actors in this movie was not the CSA or Directors idea of getting it attention, as this was a real and horrifying time in history for many.

lavatch In Iran, the city of Shiraz has traditionally been associated with great cultural achievements in poetry, literature, and magnificent gardens. Set at the inception of the Iranian revolution of 1979, "Septembers of Shiraz" focuses on the tyranny of the oppressive rule of the Ayatollah Khomeini, as directed against a businessman.The focal point of the film is a Jewish merchant of precious stones and jewelry, who is summarily arrested, tortured, and extorted of his fortune in order to survive. Adrien Brody delivers another complex and moving performance as the jeweler named Isaac. Salma Hayak-Pinault is outstanding as Isaac's wife, Farnaz. The action is taut and the pacing is deliberate, as Isaac's long period in captivity and his ordeal of torture are chronicled in lurid detail.One of the best scenes in the film is the moment where Isaac's captor named Mohsen, as played by Alon Aboutboul, engages Isaac in an extended conversation. The climax of the scene is when Isaac persuasively points to the circularity of their relationship and how Mohsen's extremism has made him captive to his obsession for revenge. Mohsen is no less a prisoner than Isaac. In this area, the film could have developed more completely the background on the repressive regime of the Shah of Iran and the barbarity of the methods used by his secret police, the dreaded SAVAK.Another key relationship in the film was that of Farnaz and the household maid Habibeh, given a remarkable screen interpretation by the husky-voiced Iranian actress Shohreh Aghdashloo. In the ebb and flow of this relationship, Habibeh begins to side with the revolutionaries, yet is deeply conflicted due to the kindness shown to her by Farnaz and Isaac. In a moving scene near the end of the film, Habibeh comes around to support Issac and Farnaz, rejecting her son, who has turned informant on the family. In an ironic twist, however, the last we hear of the son is that he has been arrested by the new theocratic regime for his personal greed in looting precious stones from Isaac's business.In the DVD "Behind the Scenes" segment, it is clear that the film artists approached this film with great intelligence, including the screenwriter, director, and design team, who were all passionate about making a film that depicts not only a repressive regime at one moment in time in 1979, but for all forms of tyranny that refuse to honor reverence for life. Tragically, this story is all too familiar well into the twenty-first century.