Lezioni di persiano

A resourceful camp prisoner decides on the spot to impersonate a Persian to avoid being executed as a Jew in wartime France. Coincidence has it that one of the officers wants to learn Farsi, as he has the plan to move to Teheran after the war. Reza, as he now calls himself, teaches Klaus a completely invented language, which has the challenge for himself to also remember what he is "teaching". As a support he uses parts of the names of the camp inmates which he registers in a book as part of his job. There are scary moments when you think the scam will come out, but also it is funny to see how this smug officer is fooled. The film is gripping all the way long and of course you are curious how this will end for both of them. The actor portraying Reza is excellent, hung between being scared and needing to be convincing.

I enjoy watching movies, have always done. But my joy of doing so has been trashed by the constant destruction of this beautiful art by the corrupt Hollywood in the last three decades, where most movies don't necessary represent the seventh art.

Vadim Perelman brings back the joy of watching movies back into my living room. After making the wonderful 'House of Sand and Fog', he's come back again with yet another beautifully done masterpiece. The directing, acting and the story telling are of the high level of it's own. He apparently (kind of) enjoys making movies about the Persians and the rich and beautiful language and culture of this ancient civilisation. Let the movie flow into your brain and heart and enjoy the heart warming and moving story between the....

Really 'enjoyed' the film. I found it absolutely gripping wondering how the prisoner would survive. I cannot find evidence as claimed that it was based on a true story which annoys me. It does not impact the power of the film though as eventually you get carried away. One not to be missed.

The acting and directing are actually pretty well, i also loved the idea. People in desperate situation do anything to survive.

But quickly i saw the surrealism of the entire premise .

The story would have been much more credible if he had a t least something in touch with the Farsi language, but basically make up a story completely from scratch is just insane that would take linguistic masterminds years, and lots of notes to pull of( Tolkien for example for his lords of the rings, and he studied languages) the idea is interesting, but a language is more then just learning words out of head, it has rules,sentence constructions,etc. Its just becomes sillier and sillier near the end.

Too much convenient random stuff happening for the sake of plot.

Pity, wasted opportunity.

This is a very new twist in an old genre. its a psychological thriller between two uneven characters. Lars Eidinger gives a tremendous performance that is nothing short of christoph waltz in Inglorious basterds. but he gives his character more depth and transforms him from a sadist to a man who also seeks love.

If you like this, I can also recomment Der Hauptmann with Max Hubacher turning from a refugee into a mass murderer. These two films are great exercises on the psychological mechanics of faschism.