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Shomareh 17 Soheila (2017)
A lesser known gem of Iranian Cinema!
Mahmoud Ghaffari's second feature film tackles issues that have not been in the center of attentionin Iranian cinema before. The film revolves around the character Soheila. She is an Iranian woman in her late 30s who is seeking someone to marry as soon as possible. The rather simple story is divided in sections, which in each Soheila encounters a marriage candidate, simultaneously her struggles as unmarried person in Iran, her intentions for marriage, some of her life story, her experience at a match finding center is revealed.
The minimalist nature of the film demands powerful acting. Zahra Davoudnezhad as the main character carries the film with her expressions, delivery and detailed acting. The believable characters and actings makes the story highly relatable, not only for single near midlife Iranian women but also for anyone who is experiencing loneliness.
Alafzar (2022)
Classical Iranian 'collection of misery', nothing new, and messy.
The film takes place in the course of a working day in court room, in city two hours out of Tehran. The story has three main through lines, first an interrogator is facing legal issues involving death of a child bystander during an arrest operation. Second, a family is facing drama after they got assaulted by a group of thugs during a private garden party. Third, two junkies who had a child out of marriage ten years ago and now the child needs a national ID. Overall, it is similar to other Iranian dramas of recent decades which present a collection of people's misery, to the point it becomes un-relatable and unbelievable.
The three story-lines are barely related, although the interrogator is the same but he comes off as a different person each time he appears on the screen. Through the film, the story changes its focus and no noticeable development occurs. I believe that if the scenario focused on one story-line or at least one character it would be much less messy and all over the place.
The film starts with message that it will not follow legal procedures as they are in real life cases. I think it is written to cover up the annoying plot-hole that, in a case that involves assault, rape, harassment, stalking, etc ... for some reason the interrogator decides to interrogate both victims and intruders all together in one small room, which causes most of the misunderstandings and drama.
The cast is populous and most of them give flat acting, the exceptions are Sara Bahrami and Sadaf Espahbodi (in her first major role!) who act wonderfully.
Overall, the story offers nothing new, which is not a bad thing by itself but the messy, plot-holey, poor acting from most of the actors makes the film a true misery to sit through. Therefore 1 out of 10.
The Neighborhood (2018)
Seriously underrated!
The premise is a White family moving to a Black neighborhood, but it goes far more than that and never fails to make us laugh. All the characters have their own funny moments too.
The show in general doesn't take itself too serious, it is an easy comedy to watch and relax! And it delivers!