Paziraie Sadeh (modest intention) 2012



How hard can it be to give out millions of cash to an unknown but needy person? That seems to be the question which “modest intention” tried to answer. The film began in a much bizarre way in which a well off city couple (their relationship were never quite sure), driving a luxury 4 wheel drive and started quarrelling in front of a check point policeman, before grabbing millions of dollars (in marked plastic bags) at the back of the car and throw it to the policeman while escaping from the security check. The journey in the empty rural landscape (Iranian Kurdistan) then started and we realise their “good” intention to give out all their cash to the so call needy people that they meet.

While their intention may be a charitable one, the way they distribute the money certainly being felt otherwise. Throughout their journey, the couple are playing their own games, lying to each other as well as toying with the people they met and to the extent of humiliating them before passing on the bags of money they supposed to be given out with a “good” intent. It is a striking comparison to the strong reluctance of ordinary rural people to accept such “gift” to the point that the audience must have feel sorry for them, for being forced to accept the cash, before losing their last ditch of dignity. Is the the temptation of money/wealth (or in deeper sub text, the moderation of society vs. tradition), making it diffuclt the ordinary people to resist in whatever way that they can, in order to stand a chance of upholding their own morality? Or even to greater extent, polluting the peaceful (yet poor) atmosphere by money inflicted crime, as we have seen at the final leg of their journey.

The surreal surrounding of the empty landscape creates another layer of subtext. However, the film itself may still lacking of something to bring this surrealism and underlying meaning to the next level. Indeed, as the film title “Modest Reception” suggested, is actually a brand of Iranian cookies (which was shown at the end of the film) , while it feels like it has something to offer but ending up searching  for the true meaning.

More info:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2245049/

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