Beautiful City
Directed by Asghar Farhadi
Review by Christopher Zara
"Beautiful City," a sullen yet deeply moving import from Iran, offers a telling
window into the harshness of theocratic rule and the unfortunate casualties who
dwell within its social trappings. The story opens on young convict Akbar, who
is facing the death penalty for killing his girlfriend in a fit of unchecked
teen angst. The father of the slain girl makes a vengeful plea to the state to
expedite Akbar's execution once the boy turns 18. Iranian law, however,
stipulates the value of a woman as half that of a man, and so to assure Akbar's
death, the grieving father has to raise "blood money" in order to pay the
balance between his daughter's worth and the worth of her killer. Meanwhile,
Akbar's well-intentioned best friend, Ala, and his older sister, Firoozeh,
relentlessly pester the grieving father, appealing to his devout Muslim
leanings, while trying to get him to write an official letter of clemency that
would spare Akbar from capital punishment.
Thirty-three-year-old writer/director Asghar Farhadi has created a compelling
work in "Beautiful City," with a complex story that offers no easy outs to its
key players. All of the film's central characters seem to struggle between their
repressed desires and the cultural dictates of Muslim law, and the performers
adeptly convey this preset inner turmoil. As Firoozeh, the giftedly subtle
Taraneh Alidoosti brings an organic believability to her character's budding
romance with Ala, a plot device that might otherwise feel contrived. Though
Firoozeh and Ala's equally convoluted lives make it obvious that the
relationship has no future, we find ourselves hoping the two youngsters will
buck the odds and live happily ever after — an outcome that Farhadi would have us
believe is a virtual impossibility in his native country.
That said, "Beautiful City" is not for filmgoers who like all their loose ends
neatly tied up. While the film explores challenging notions of revenge and
forgiveness, its abruptness forces us to draw our own conclusions. You may very
well find yourself contemplating the unwritten fate of these characters long
after their story comes to a grinding halt.