I just got back from watching Rosewater. I didn’t have many expectations, but I am still pretty disappointed.
One one hand we have a good looking journalist with a pretty pregnant wife and an improbably well-cultivated film collection, and on the other hand we have a nasty authoritarian theocratic regime.
Along with that we have a spectacularly predictable assortment of supporting characters- the hopeful and naive student protestors, the long-suffering mother, the “banality of evil” civil servant and not one, but two, ghostly martyred family members giving advice.
The story goes exactly how you’d expect it to go, with no real tension, surprise, danger or evolution of character. There were a few moments that got close to being interesting, and the laughs were refreshing, but nothing to really sink your teeth in.
I walked out afterwards basically unchanged. Yup, still against autocratic theocracies. Yup, still all for likeable journalists. Yup, being tortured is indeed pretty bad. All this is true. But I’m not sure I needed to pay $11.00 to see it all played out in a docudrama.
Wow. Just now we’re getting our first Rosewater thread? Y’know, in this one case, my most hated Café Society Thread Naming Convention “What? No ____ Thread yet?” actually would have been entirely appropriate.
I couldn’t be disappointed that it played out like a docudrama. It’s based on a book in which a journalist recounts a very recent experience and we all know the outcome (because we all know that he ended up being able to write a book about it). Knowing that, I thought it was a pretty well-made docudrama.
I thought Gael García Bernal gave a great performance- which is really important for a predictable docudrama. Even with zero surprises plot-wise, it was still interesting to watch because of the fullness of the performance: we weren’t just watching the predictable events, we were watching this guy’s experience of the events. It’s only because Bernal did such a good job that it works.
I also really liked the character of the driver and his friends. Particularly how he doesn’t regret the actions that put him in prison because of his personal conviction that he is on the right side of history. Bahari displays some Western arrogance in thinking he got these people into trouble and faces a lesson that, no, these are the people working in their daily lives to make a difference and are prepared to face very real and immediate consequences for their actions.
The one really well delivered emotional event for me was the realization that his loved ones on the outside actually had been working throughout his imprisonment to get him free. Up until this point his has lost so much hope he can’t imagine that those on the outside have as well. When the guard mentions that he’s been talked about on the news, the realization hits him that his loved ones and colleagues really are working passionately on his behalf. And here’s where I really think Stewart did very well as a director: he waits until the character’s realization before he shows the audience all of the efforts that are happening in the outside world so that we really feel the excitement of Bahari’s hope returning to him.
In addition, I think the whole film was quite beautifully shot. I didn’t assume Stewart would have such a sense of visual style in place for his first film.
So, yeah, a predictable docudrama with stock characters. But I think it was a wel done predictable docudrama with stock characters. I’d give it a solid B.
I’ve been mulling this over. I don’t give points for effort or handicap genre. Every filmmaker gets more or less the same amount of time with an audience, and some do a lot more with that than others.
I think the real weakness here is that the main character is the world’s nicest guy. He has a nice job, endearing hobby, pretty wife (plus, pregnant!), good looks, sense of humor…the only weakness he has is that he’s just too pure-hearted and freedom-loving.
Basically, a Mary Sue.
A character like that doesn’t have a lot of ground for internal conflict or change through the story. Realistically, he walks out of prison the same person he walked in as, give or take a fight with the imaginary ghost of his dad. So we are left with a story about stuff just happening to a nice guy. And a story about stuff just happening to nice people is not going to be a powerful one.
It probably doesn’t help that I just read a book by one of the three American hikers detained in the same prison. With more space, she able to really able to really delve deep into the complex relationships with their torturers, the ways that prison brought out their inner strength but also their deepest and most terrifying weaknesses, the absurd political maneuvering that got them freed, and the difficulties of readjusting to freedom. It was stark, revealing, complex book that really transcended the “bad thing happens to good people” bones.
I am curious what other people thought. The small clips of the movie that Stewart has shown when making the rounds did not seem particularly impressive and the initial pre-release feedback was a bit damning with perfunctory praise. Although it has decent reviews now, it has been sluggish at the box office with poor per-screen performance and considerable weekly drops. It does not look like word of mouth is helping it at all.
I just saw it, and loved it! The directing was excellent (for both the “streets of Tehran” first third, and the prison interrogation latter two-thirds), the acting first rate, some familiar themes but with a few nice new touches (e.g., the when he talks to his dead father – could have been cheesy or unrealistic, but was actually subtle and effective), well handled politically (e.g., mentioning 1950s US CIA abuses of power without letting this become an excuse for the current Iranian regime’s actions), and timely – I had forgotten about these events of just a few years ago, and of course they’re in a sense “current.”
I haven’t seen it yet - and am probably one of the reasons it hasn’t done so well - well not me, but maybe people like me. I love Jon Stewart - watch his show all the time - seen him perform standup - and went to the rally in DC.
That being said I just haven’t got off my butt to see this movie. I haven’t seen anything that makes me want to see it. I’m glad it is getting Luke warm reviews - as maybe I’ll actually enjoy it with the reduced expectations.
I think maybe it will do better at home - I hope it does well enough to encourage Stewart to do more - as I think he is extremely talented.
That was basically my impression of The Shawshank Redemption, which is one of the most-loved films of all time.
I suspect that thing is that most people aren’t even aware of a lot of the random bad shit that happens in the world. Just the revelation of that is mind-bending enough without trying to throw in secondary plots or have any character development. If the guy is an innocent, faultless Mary Sue, all the better, since most of the audience is probably the same white-bread sort of Mary Sue themselves.
I disagree. I mentioned in my previous post he’s a bit arrogant in his Western privilege. He’s a recreational activist on the sidelines feeling good about the oh so important journalism that he’s doing to shed light on the injustices of the world. Then when he’s faced with people who actually have skin in the game, it suddenly becomes “Whoah! Guys, you should keep your heads down! Don’t you know what this oppressive regime will do to you?”
He comes to realize that his own imprisonment, horrible though it was, is only a small taste of what the actual activists on the ground face- and they are fully prepared to face it, strong in their conviction that change must come and that sacrifices must be made.
I didn’t read the book and this is not an aspect of the story that I had heard talked about before I went to see it. I saw this side of the character’s growth through what the movie showed me, and I think it showed it pretty effectively. We really are privileged in the way that we get to blog about injustices in the world, share insightful articles on Faceboook, profess our progressive righteousness on messageboards, etc. It’s a totally different experience to speak up for change when you could actually get thrown into the back of a van and disappeared forever.