arthur_tafero

This film is done in the style of Russian filmmaker, Sergei Eisenstein, the genius behind Battleship Potemkin.

The famous scene of the baby carriage going down the steps of the besieged city; later copied by The Untouchables (Kevin Costner) with a similar scene in a train station is an icon of Russian cinema.

It also has the flavor of Alexander Nevsky, a Russian classic made 15 years earlier with the theme of a home country resisting intruders. This film stands on its own with spectacular battle scenes, and highly dramatic moments of family conflict. You will not be bored, even though I saw the film in Albanian language with no subtitles, it was very easy to follow.

This film grips you in the first scene and does not let go until the unexpected conclusion of the first segment of the movie. The film is divided into three main stories; the first being the most unexpected and shocking.

The setting is the penal system within Iran, a venue seldom explored in international cinema. It had the feeling of Midnight Express, but that film was about Turkey; Iran is much different than Turkey.

The second story also has a few surprises, although not quite as shocking as the first story. Once again, it has the atmosphere of Midnight Express. The acting is very good, as is the direction, but the writing and editing are exceptional.

The third story was not quite as compelling as the first two, but the cinematography for it was very good; the mossy wooded area surrounding Tehran, is a sharp contrast to the hustle and bustle of the large city. An incisive look at the Iranian penal system.

For some reason I cannot fathom, this film was roundly panned by several other IMDB critics (with the exception of Dave McClain, who got it right). The film is. A bit slow and claustrophobic, but it does capture the sense of surrealistic fear felt by those who were in New York City on that day. I worked on the 88th Floor of the 2 WTC only a year before it was hit. I quit my job to sell baseball cards in front of the New York Stock Exchange. I was only a few blocks away when the first plane hit. My wife at the time worked in midtown, so I thought she would get home before me. But when the second plane hit, I packed up (along with several hundred others) and scooted uptown to catch the Queens train.

The mood there was one of bewilderment and disbelief. I believe this film captures that to a degree. The cast does a decent job with the acting, and some of the sequences are suspenseful. A few did not work, but on the whole, I felt the film was a success. Worth viewing.