Since its recent theatrical release, Jon Stewart’s ROSEWATER has been receiving oodles of publicity. The primary reason has nothing to do with the film’s content or quality. Instead, it mirrors Stewart’s celebrity. Still, ROSEWATER is a serious, sobering film that reflects on our deeply troubled and divided world. It is based on the true story of Maziar Bahari (played by Gael Garcia Bernal), an Iranian journalist who was arrested, blindfolded, and brutally grilled by the authorities for four months.
One would wish that other high-profile filmmakers would tackle this kind of material and Jon Stewart should be commended for doing so, but he is not the only filmmaker who is exploring similar subject matter. And because these films and filmmakers do not have the Jon Stewart name brand, their releases will not be high-profile events. They will not be as highly promoted as ROSEWATER.
One such film is MANUSCRIPTS DON’T BURN, and it has just been released to DVD. Its writer-director is Mohammad Rasoulof. Back in 2010, he and fellow Iranian filmmaker JafarPanahi were arrested, sentenced to six years in prison, and banned from filmmaking for two decades. But both men have kept working and have been making films that directly mirror their plight, not to mention the reality of political repression in their homeland along with the challenges inherent in making movies under the umbrella of Iranian censorship.
Panahi co-directed a documentary, titled THIS IS NOT A FILM, and co-directed and scripted the allegorical CLOSED CURTAIN, in which he also appears as himself. THIS IS NOT A FILM, which is available on DVD, charts a day in the life of Panahi. It was partially shot on an iPhone, and it eventually was smuggled into France inside a cake. CLOSED CURTAIN, which opened theatrically earlier this year, momentarily will be released on DVD. This film explores the effect of restrictions on individuals in general and artists in particular in contemporary Iran, as well as the impracticality of avoiding oppression in any culture that is ruled by an omnipotent political power.
MANUSCRIPTS DON’T BURN, meanwhile, was partly filmed in Iran, and was done so covertly. Plus, the names of its cast members have been withheld to protect them from retribution by their government. Its scenario is based on actual events surrounding an attempted assassination of several prominent Iranian journalists and intellectuals two decades ago. It follows these individuals as well as the two conflicted contract killers whose assignment is to carry out this plot. One of them is a father who desperately needs the money that will allow him to tend to a sick child. So he finds “employment” as a hit man.
MANUSCRIPTS DON’T BURN is a film that oozes urgency. It is both uncompromising in its political stance and genuinely chilling as a story of drama and conflict. It is a film that can be seen and re-seen, and its nuances can be endlessly discussed and analyzed.
MANUSCRIPTS DON’T BURN may have won the International Federation of Film Critics Award when it played the Cannes Film Festival. But regrettably, this is not the kind of citation that will result in a mass awareness for the film on our shores. And that is a shame.
Rob Edelman teaches film history at the University at Albany. He has written several books on film and television, and is an associate editor of Leonard Maltin’s Movie and Video Guide.
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