Standing out thanks to being the first annual film festival that I attended, I was absolutely thrilled to learn that the Cine-Excess Film Festival was returning online this year. Finding the Iran New Wave film Leakage (2019-also reviewed) to be a fascinating title from the 2020 Cine-Excess, I was excited to learn that the festival this year was opening with an Iranian movie,leading to me meeting Evin.
Note: Review contains some plot details.
View on the film:
Detailing in a discussion after the screening/ stream that there have been some docs about the Trans community in Iran, but it being a subject which fiction film making from the country has avoided going near, co-writers/ debut co-directors Mohammad and Mehdi Torab-Beigi closely work with cinematographer Mohammad Reza Jahanpanah to brilliantly use the distorted wide-shot stylisation of the Iran New Wave (INW) to place the audience directly behind the eyes of Amen.
Subtly limited to a fractured shot in a mirror being the only facial appearance on screen of the character, (reflecting the fracturing of trust Amen feels towards everyone) the Torab-Beigi's holding onto Amen entirely in ultra-stylised first-person tracking shots,which brilliantly build a tense Thriller atmosphere from the rising level of mistrust over those promising to perform gender reassignment surgery on Amen.
The Torab-Beigi's crystallize Amen's concerns with layered audio and INW distorted glimpses down corridors, bringing into focus the high levels of discrimination in Iran against the Trans community that Amen is fighting against.
Unraveling all the promises made to Amen for only the utmost professionalism to be present in the build-up to the gender reassignment surgery , the screenplay by the Torab-Beigi's superbly balance character study narration of Amen's decision to go for the surgery,with icy psychological Thriller that ends on a chilling Horror note, as those who Amen places trust in, gradually unveil their vicious, killer ulterior motives behind their decision to perform the surgery.
