A very slow burning Iranian thriller from director Rafi Pitts that tells the compelling tale of Sara Alavi who returns home to find his wife and child missing. A 'phone call from the local police station informs him that his wife, at least, has been killed by the police after she was caught up in a demonstration. This news and the subsequent discovery that his child is, indeed, dead plunges him into a world of revenge and retribution.
Sara (Mitra Hajjar) is a quiet man who works the night shift as a security guard at a factory. His past as a convict, for crimes that are never revealed, deny him the chance to work a different shift and this keeps him from spending time with his wife and child. In free time Sara takes to the woods to hunt and his skill in this area is soon put to a very different use.
After his tragic losses Sara uses his hunting skills to kill two police officers in a manner that is reminiscent of the actions of the Washington Sniper. That decision sees Sara shift from hunter to hunted and, ultimately, to being the prize for the police officers who capture and kill him.
Short on the sort of thrills and spills that one would expect from a revenge movie from the West this is a film that requires effort from the viewer but that effort is rewarded in the performance of Mitra Hajjar who perfectly captures the pain and torment of a man who has lost everything and is prepared to do anything to avenge that.
I enjoyed this movie more than you seem to have Mozzer. The little twist where he's captured and then he and his captors become lost, really caught me out.
ReplyDeleteIt was for me another good movie in a year of few.