The first great film of this year: Mohammad Rasoulof's Iranian marvel, THERE IS NO EVIL

The deservedly top prizewinner at the 2020 Berlin Film Festival, THERE IS NO EVIL is a movie that constantly questions the power of the state vs the morality of the individual in an authoritarian regime. For that reason, this film by Iranian-born Mohammad Rasoulof had to be shot on the sly and smuggled out of Iran. 

Despite this, the movie -- in terms of art, content, philosophy and, yes, even as entertainment -- seems to me to be not much improvable upon, had Mr. Rasoulof been given the time, budget and accommodation of any western "studio blockbuster." (The filmmaker himself, shown at right, has been imprisoned in Iran and banned from making movies for two years.) 

Each of the four tales in this anthology addresses a particular  moral question from a different angle, situation and set of  characters -- although by the finale, you may wonder if one of these stories is simply the continuation of an earlier one, though perhaps in a different time frame. (Or maybe not.) This does not really matter, in any case, because each story is told so honestly and so well.

The entire film lasts two and one-half hours. I admit this sounded a bit daunting when I began my viewing. But so immediate, pertinent and involving is the first episode (and each one thereafter) that any sense of time and/or deadline quickly melted away.

Episode One deals with a man, above and above) coming home from work and showering, an imperilled animal he encounters and saves, his wife and child and the various errands he and they must handle. The sense we get of modern-day Iran seems exceptional in its very ordinariness, and the tale ends with our hero back at work and a sudden coup de cinema that I have never experienced -- until now -- and which sets the scene for, as well as our sites on, all that follows, while forcing us to re-think all that we have so far seen.

Episode Two is set in what looks like prison but I think is actually the military (which in Iran, as elsewhere, seems awfully close to the same thing), as we learn of the dilemma faced by one young man. Included here in one of the best philosophic discussions of guilt, innocence, death, responsibility and the power of the state that I have seen and heard. Plus quite a bit of suspense and surprise. 

We move to the verdant countryside in Episode Three and the birthday of a lovely young woman (above, left), attended by her family and her fiance (above, right), which then turns into a wake. For whom, why, and how this has come to be all bubble up and pour over each other in this tale of, not lies, exactly, but information withheld. The final shot is simply amazing: ironic, deeply moving and quietly  provocative.  

Quiet describes the final section, too, as we see the arrival at the airport of Darya, who has returned to Iran from attending university in the west. Awaiting her are her parents, or so we imagine. But history, along with information again withheld, slowly disseminates, as we and Darya learn of the older couple's beekeeping activity and the man's health issues. The animal world, as well as the human, figure in this episode, and the ending is one of the most subtle yet encompassing and quietly moving that I can recall.

TrustMovies has deliberately left out the actual "theme" of this film -- the engine that drives all of its episodes -- because simply to name it seems almost too obvious and heavy-handed, not to mention offering up somewhat of a spoiler. Rasoulof is such a delicate filmmaker, giving us such a rich array of characters, as well as attitudes toward his main subject, that I urge you to see this film without reading too much about it beforehand. 

The writer/director plays fair by all his characters -- even when they do not always play fair with each other. (He also draws expert performances from every actor.) There are no villains here -- except the State itself. We're all flawed, right? So his chosen title There Is No Evil, if not taken in completely ironic fashion, may bring to mind that famous quote from Terence, "Nothing human is alien to me."

In any case, for me this is the movie of the year so far. I have not stopped thinking about it over the week since I viewed it. Even the occasional maybe-too-easy coincidence Rasoulof allows pales in comparison to the beauty, depth, subtlety and inclusivity on view. The filmmaker has given us here not merely Iran but ourselves and consequently the whole wide world.

From Kino Lorber, in Persian and German with English subtitles, There Is No Evil opens tomorrow, Friday, May 14, at Film Forum in New York City -- both walk-in and virutally -- and can also be seen at virtual cinema across the country. Click here to view all venues nationwide.

Werner Herzog bounces back with crime/ punishment investigation INTO THE ABYSS

After his off-and-on-the-mark, earliest-paintings documentary, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, in which one of the world's most interesting documentarians, Werner Herzog, explored Chauvet Cave (in 3-D, yet!) but seemed to get a little drunk on his own, somewhat pompous, narration, the man is back with one of the most humane, far-reaching movies in some time. INTO THE ABYSS explores capital punishment from several angles -- that of the victim of the state, his earlier victims, and the relatives of both. As it moves inward to probe the thoughts and feelings of all these people, the movie simultaneously expands outward until it embraces our society at large. What it (and what you) will make of this is something sad and profound and not a little disturbing -- and yet, surprise of surprises, it is not judgmental.

Herzog himself (shown at right) goes on record upfront by telling us and his interviewees that he is against capital punishment. But then he simply interviews, asking each person thoughtful, germane questions without any attitude attached. Consequently, the answers come back as genuine and real -- except in the case of the young man about to be executed (Michael Perry, below), who never appears to have grown up enough to accept anything approaching responsibility. Is he mentally challenged? A sociopath?  W can't know from what we see here, nor, I think, does the filmmaker believe that it matters much.

Into the Abyss is the third film (that I've seen; there may have more even more) in nearly as many weeks to implicate, if not indict, its location -- our formerly Bush-led and now Perry-ized state of Texas (Incendiary and Texas Killing Fields were the other two). Seeing these three films in fairly quick succession (two are docs, one is narrative based on a real tale) cannot help but make one wonder what is (and isn't) going on there that should (or should not) be. When, suddenly, we are confronted with the fact that one of the adults we're listening to was illiterate at the time of which he speaks, it comes as the kind of shock, the ramifications of which seem to expand exponentially.

With the exception of the late Mr. Perry, the other characters seem genuinely to believe what they are telling us -- from the father of one of the killers (himself imprisoned, above), who gives by far the most moving testimony, to his son's wife, who began one of those long-distance letter-writing correspondences and is now married to the murderer.

That this young man (Jason Delbert, below) is unable to be paroled until he hits around 60 years of age seems to daunt no one.

Via the families of the boy's victims, one of whom is shown below, we also get both more and less than we might have imagined: more specifics, more depth but less anger.

Unlike the bizarre connections he insisted on making in "Cave," here Herzog is content to simply give us information and let us work it into what we will: for instance, what happened to the red Camaro, below, that appears to have been the motive behind the initial killings.

Even the executioner (below, if you can call him that: he's a tool of the state) manages to make what happens seems almost humane. Yet it is clearly not. So much so, in fact, that the man himself must eventually give up his job -- and at what a cost!

I don't think Into the Abyss will turn many people against (or for that matter, pro) capital punishment. But it will make them think, feel and then think again. Even-handed in the very best way by giving us nothing more nor less than humanity itself, the movie -- 106 minutes, from Sundance Selects -- begins its limited theatrical run today, Friday, November 11, after making its NYC debut as the opening night attraction of DOC-NYC.

In New York City you can catch it at the Lincoln Plaza Cinema and the IFC Center. In Los Angeles, see it at The Landmark, and note that tomorrow, November 12, Herr Herzog himself will appear in person at the 7:20 and 10pm screenings of that L.A. theater.