383. Tehran Taboo; movie review

TEHRAN TABOO
Cert 15
96 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong language, sex, sex references, drugs misuse

In what is known nowadays as the developing world, political film-making can be difficult and dangerous.
Therefore, animation can provide an opportunity for hard-hitting cinema in a way which is unseen in the West.
Earlier this year, Mrs W and I were blown away at the skill and storyline of The Breadwinner. It surprised us by being so engaging and shocked us with its content.
Ditto, Tehran Taboo which is one of the most powerful movies of 2018.
This is Iran which is a long way from the country presented in Joanna Lumley's Silk Road travelogues on television.
In the opening scenes, a mother is seen having oral sex with a taxi driver while her young son sits in the back seat.

This was based on an anecdote which director Ali Soozandeh heard on a train and prompted him to unveil more of the lives of young Iranians.
Thus, the story of the prostitute (voiced by  Elmira Rafizadeh) is intertwined with two others of sexual discovery and repression.
They are that of her neighbour (Zahra Amir Ebrahimi) who is pregnant and is seeking work against the wishes of her husband and a young woman (Negar Mona Alizadeh) who is desperate to hide a one-night stand from her bullying fiancee.
Critics might say that Ali Soozandeh has not lived in Iran since he emigrated to Germany in the mid-1990s and could question how much he knows about current society.
He paints his subjects as desperate to burst away from a culture in which men dominate and injustice prevails.
Rotoscope animation is used to great effect, casting sinister shadows as life or death decisions are made by characters who live in constant fear.
But the questions remain - do young women really have to turn to back-street quacks to 'restore' their virginity before marriage, would judges in the Islamic Revolutionary Court really exhort favours from prostitutes and would a wife of an imprisoned drug addict really be denied a divorce on his say so?
These scenarios make for an incredibly effective movie. But could they be true?

Reasons to watch: Enthralling animated movie
Reasons to avoid: If it were proved to be over-egged

Laugh: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: Yes
Overall rating: 8.5/10

Director quote - Ali Soozandeh : "This story is about daily life so it isn’t a fantasy story or story for children."

  The big question - Does this really happen in Iran?

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