…………………………………………………

The Beautiful City Movie Review

The Beautiful City is a 2004 Iranian drama film directed by Asghar Farhadi and starring Taraneh Alidoosti. It’s a solid, though far from great Farhadi vehicle.

………………………………………………….

“It’s easy to tell others to forget“

…………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………..

Akbar is waiting for his execution after being held in an adolescent rehabilitation center for two years. His life takes a dramatic turn when his cellmate decides to help him escape from prison. Thematically speaking, this is a strong movie as is always the case with Farhadi films. It explores the problems of the judicial system in Iran and just how unjust it is.

My issue her stems more from my own views on the subject matter, which is the punishment for the worst crime possible that is murder. In Iran there are many problems with the system, but I would hardly call death penalty an issue. These are the worst crimes possible, so I would never waste money on these criminals’ rehabilitation myself.

This is why I could hardly care for this movie when it asks audiences to care what happens to the guy who killed somebody. I simply could not. I did not care what happened to him, thus the movie was emotionally empty to me.

With that being said, there is no denying the power of its acting performances with Taraneh Alidoosti being particularly impressive in a very important, well written role. The movie through her touches on the issue of sexism in the country, a much more pressing problem in my eyes and I wish that Farhadi chose that one as his subject.

…………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………..

While The Beautiful City is problematic in its messaging, it at least features amazing, thought-provoking dialogue, a staple of all Farhadi cinematic output. There are many conversations here that are so interesting and powerful while the movie is also well edited and directed, though hardly cinematic as it’s a character study and a dialogue-heavy movie first and foremost. Its melancholic tone is also very interesting and overall the movie is a pretty strong early effort from the director.

The Beautiful City is a solid early effort from Asghar Farhadi that features fantastic dialogue that is a staple of all Farhadi films. The performance form Taraneh Alidoosti is also terrific. The movie’s melancholic tone is interesting as well. My issue here is that I could not relate to its characters and the issue at hand as it deals with helping out a murderer. The messaging was problematic to me, but getting a glimpse into the Iranian judicial system was interesting nonetheless.

My Rating – 3.5