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The conflicts that occur between people of different beliefs are all too common. Yet most terrifying ones that take place between family members, in their home and with the people they thought were the most understanding individuals to them. This is what ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’ (2024) is about with the profound Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof at the helm. Following a family that sees political differences and sees the consequences of such, ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’ joins Rasoulof’s other films as it tells an emotionally rich story in the fractured setting of a modern day Iran.
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A matter of life and death with a film
It takes dedication and discipline to complete any movie, but Mohammad Rasoulof has shown the true extent of that sentiment with his career. Nearly all of his films have been shot in secret with ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’ being no exception. They have been banned for screening in Iran due to their confrontive subject matter to the Iranian government and Rasoulof’s expressed beliefs regarding the system. The filming employed secretive filming techniques and it was mid way through filming when Rasoulof’s prison sentence was renewed for eight years and he fled on foot. The footage was smuggled out of Iran to Germany where post production took place. With a story behind the making of this film, it is easy to appraise Rasoulof and all the Iranian actors and crew members for this project. ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’ is not a film made in a typical fashion that’s seen anywhere else.
Essentially, it was made in a country that deems it illegal and it is a miracle that anyone is able to see it. This is not detrimental to the film in any way as it is made like any film with superb performances, especially from Soheila Golestani and crisp cinematography from Director of Photography Pooyan Aghababaei. The film has many great moments of tension and the emotional moments are all well realized. But, a greater reward has come from this film being released to a mass audience. It exposes a part of the world that is broken and in need of repair. The struggles that this family faces due to a violent political climate and disagreements among themselves are emotionally resonant for many people.
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Realism done through social media
Some of the film’s most impactful sequences are of characters watching social media reels that show the horrifying realities of real life protests in Iran between college students and police forces in Iran. Many of these internet videos are in relation to the 2022 Women’s Rights protests that were suppressed by the government and were a display of denying the rights of freedom in expression and police brutality to a disturbing degree. By showing these real world videos throughout the film, it increases the tension as the dangerous outside world closes in around this family that is already the subject of much conflict in viewpoints. It makes the audience question with fear when the horrifying reality of modern day Iran makes its mark on these characters. The rough videos that are unflinching from violence towards citizens protesting for human rights are truly terrifying since they were taken by the actual people in these perilous events.
Not only does this show what kind of unrest is dwelling within modern day Iran, but it also depicts social media’s influence in people’s opinions. Most of the population use social media, not only for entertainment, but news outlets and for intake of opinions. Everyone in the family is getting their information on current events through Instagram and the news. In a certain scene, the threat of social media is even used as a weapon to slander a certain character, only for the danger to be extinguished thanks to bad service. Nevertheless, the inclusion of internet videos of real life adds to the realism of the film and makes those outside of the country realize the state Iran is and has been in.
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An Objective Viewpoint…Until the End
Given that Rasoulof is not afraid of angering any higher ups in Iran with his film, one would expect ‘Seed of the Sacred Fig’ to feel like pure propaganda. While it is an expression of certain sentiments of Rasoulof, the film remains a fairly balanced portrait of a family that is split between political differences. There are the conservative parents with the dad working as an investigating judge where most of his power is out of his hands and the mother supporting his endeavors no matter what. Then, there are the daughters, young and impressionable, who are exposed to a state of the world through graphic social media posts and have become engaged with a more progressive view. This kind of political drama is a conflict that people in many other countries can find relatability in, given that very often, there are two sides in a political debate. Here, it is a scary reality to think about because it is within a family, a group of people who are meant to support and care for each other no matter what politics they hold.
At first, there isn’t any demonizing one side more than the other, nor is there victimizing any one. Both, the conservative parents and the progressive kids are given equal attention until the third act where an unsettling event happens within the family that causes unrest to the point where certain characters are transcribed as more in the right and while others are clearly proved to be in the wrong, eventually resorting to a villainous portrayal. The final act is a tense confrontation between the family where one character is evidently made out to be evil, a far cry to the subjective take that most of the film had set up between the two extreme political views. It is up to the audience to decide whether this direction enhances the story and characters or if it leads to a more cartoonish climax with less realistic value than the first half. To the film’s ultimate credit, the fact that the last third of the movie takes place in an visually pleasing set piece and manages to be as intense as it is while being concealed from the government is enough for it to merit praise for the sheer fearlessness embodied within Rasoulof and all the cast and crew.
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Sadly, ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’ is not a work of fantasy. The exact characters and plot points may be fiction, but the struggles portrayed are taken out of the reality of Iran. The characters are rich, the pacing is excellent, and the themes of political unrest and family conflict are a great anchor for immersing the audience in what is happening in Iran at the moment. All of this craft and talent is on display while being made underground. Hopefully, this serves as an inspiration for anyone lacking in hope. Here was Rasoulof and his team who against all odds made films of great insight in a country that didn’t accept their art.
CREDITS:
Cast: Sohelia Golestani, Missagh Zareh, Mahsa Rostami
Cinematography by: Pooyan Aghababaei
Edited by: Andrew Bird
Produced by: Mohammad Rasoulof, Rozita Hendijanian, Amin Sadraei, Jean-Christophe Simon, Mani Tilgner
Written & Directed by: Mohammad Rasoulof
By Elijah van der Fluit
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Author
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Elijah van der Fluit is a writer for The Hollywood Insider based in California with aspirations to write and direct films for a professional career. In his spare time, Elijah enjoys watching and discussing movies of all genres as well as reading, hiking, spending time with family, and being one with the world. Elijah believes that art, whatever form it may take, has the ability to inspire and broaden people’s perspectives in a positive way and he hopes to use his work in film and writing to do so.
Elijah van der Fluit is a writer for The Hollywood Insider based in California with aspirations to write and direct films for a professional career. In his spare time, Elijah enjoys watching and discussing movies of all genres as well as reading, hiking, spending time with family, and being one with the world. Elijah believes that art, whatever form it may take, has the ability to inspire and broaden people’s perspectives in a positive way and he hopes to use his work in film and writing to do so.
