185. Law Of Tehran (Metri shesh va nim); movie review

 

LAW OF TEHRAN (METRI SHESH VA NIM)

Cert 15

134 mins

BBFC advice: Contains drug misuse, strong threat, suicide references

Iranian cinema often surprises because of how the country is portrayed n the West.

Indeed, I confess that Mrs W and I were astonished when we saw a representation of people defying what we imagined to be a repressive police state.

Law Of Tehran shows that the authorities do come down hard on criminals and the death penalty continues to be enforced.

But this film also highlights the state's acute drug problem and the difficulties the authorities have in attempting to bring it under control.

It also shows that, just as in the West, crime lords are becoming rich at the expense of the addicts who lose everything.

Having to deal with this fall-out, inspires officer Samad Majidi (Payman Maadi) in his obsessive mission to track down the key figure in a drug-dealing pyramid.

Law of Tehran begins with him leading an intense raid on a building site where addicts are living frighteningly poor lives.

From there comes the first clue to the next player along the distribution route which finally leads to the cop's number one target,  Naser Khakzad (Navid Mohammadzadeh).

The police are uncompromising throughout and their tactics and treatment of prisoners are treated will raise eyebrows.

Meanwhile, Samad is a flawed character and is locking horns with a fellow officer (Houman Kiai) and even a judge (Farhad Aslani).

Saeed Roustayi's movie offers an insight into Iran and it also stands on its own as an edgy thriller with compelling acting that had us transfixed.

Reasons to watch: Unrelenting police thriller

Reasons to avoid: Upsetting scenes

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 8.5/10

Did you know? Out of a population of 81 million, about 2 to 3 million Iranians are estimated to be addicts, continually one of the world's highest addiction rates.

The final word. Saeed Roustayi: "I learned filmmaking from life and I learned living from films – that’s really how it’s been for me all the way through. My films are made from the material that life gives me. My dialogues, you can hear it from people; situations that I describe, you can witness them in people’s life around me. That’s really what feeds my cinema." The Upcoming

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