A dramatic retelling of the imprisonment of journalist Maziar Bahari (Gael Garcia Bernal), Rosewater sets out to tear down the social and cultural boundaries that often deter Western audiences from truly gasping and emphasising with the plights of those living in places where the crime of bearing witness still bears a heavy toll.
The greatest strength of Jon Stewart’s debut as a director is its ability to place you in Mazi’s shoes. You feel his joy at the prospects of being a father, his utter shock and confusion at his arrest and his foreboding sense of trepidation as his Iranian friends let him into their world. The film depicts a powerful portrait of Iran’s national identity at the time – cleverly embedding itself in history through the use of real footage and news coverage of Iran’s 2009 election. Though Stewart’s creative approach to conveying social media is a mixed bag at times, it’s refreshing to see him tackle this aspect of Mazi’s story nonetheless.
The film’s smart and snappy dialogue is rich with personality and goes a long way to elevating Bernal’s performance, which shines through not just in the film’s direst moments but also its lighter ones. Impressively, Rosewater also restrains itself from demonising Mazi’s interrogator (Kim Bodnia) and paints him as a sympathetic human being rather than a sadist devoid of compassion or ambition. The rest of the casting is similarly accomplished, with Haluk Bilginer’s presence as Mazi’s father adding a lot to the film.
Rosewater is a strong first outing for Stewart as a director and strikes a great balance between treating its subject matter with the proper respect and capturing Mazi’s plight as a prisoner in what feels like a world gone mad. It’s a film that cleverly weaves personal and political drama together in an impressive way – and perhaps most importantly, never loses track of the human qualities that shape it.
3.5/5 stars
Rosewater opens in cinemas on Thursday February 19.
