Review of 3 Faces

"Se rokh" or "Three Faces" is a pretty new Iranian movie that runs for a bit under 100 minutes and is the most recent filmmaking effort by lauded writer and director Jafar Panahi. And while his countryman Farhadi has made more waves recently awards-wise, I am still glad to see this new movie by Panahi because seeing him free making films is nice knowing how the Iranian regime has treated him in the past. Anyway, lets take a look at this video. He collaborated with Iranian actress Behnaz Jafari here and it is fitting she is first-cast because she is really very much in the center of this movie. Panahi has lots of screen time too, but he really feels more like an observer overall, even if he probably is the second lead. Either him or the young actress who is featured more prominently in the second half of the film, but probably him. So yeah the film starts with the (apparent) suicide video of a young Iranian actress desperate that he career is not going the way she wants to also because of the limitations brought upon her by her family. So it sure seems serious. But is it really? The main character has severe doubts about the authenticity and if she really killed herself, but the girl mentioned her thatg seh wants her to see this, so she and Panahi take off on a journey to find the girl's village and what really happened to her. I will not post any spoilers, but yeah I think this was the film's biggest strength. When said plot and story line are somewhat over, it goes a bit south. It is still an interesting watchn from beginning to end. Not only does Panahi once more show us his great talent when it comes to directing and there are some really nice shots in here, but we also getg a bit of an insight into an area in Iran that really not too many outside the country know about at all. And also what the people who live there have to say. Most of the time it is rather on the funny side with how rural these people are and about the things they do and say that are funny in a quirky mode, well maybe hermitic way would be the better description really. There is not too much depth in here, nothing too dramatic or political this time with Panahi, but not every film he makes needs this, even if there is still a statement on society, especially on the role of females in society. Yes the vast majority of this film is most likely staged and scripted, but you can only stage so much I assume with the people you see in here in smaller roles because they would not even understand the concept at all and they are no actors. The fact that everybody basically plays themselves also adds to the documentary side this film certainly has, even if it is neither a documentary nor a mockumentary. There is one scene at the end I liked quite and that was when the big raging brute is pushed outside (by the way he gets pushed around a lot for his size by people considerably tinier than him) and we see him in anger next to Panahi waiting in the car and in some bad mainstream movie Panahi('s character) would have stepped outside and talked reason into the man and would have succeeded and calmed him down, but here this was never an option. No confrontation happened, no talk. Panahi just stayed in his car. Otherwise the big fella would have kicked him around perhaps. Or well maybe the other way around. I said earlier that the guy gets pushed around a lot for sure. I think there was even a smile on his lips on one or two occasions that surely did not fit his state of emotion and his mood at that point, but maybe I misinterpreted it. I also think if these really was such an expression, Panahi certainly saw it and decided not to cut it to add another layer to his documentary spoof idea here. And there's many other interesting scenes that can be talked about and interpreted in depth. When you see them, you recognize them fore sure. I also really liked the outside camera shots permanently. It is geographically and in general with the people there a world entirely different from ours here in Central Europe. This one here may not be Panahi's best filmmaking effort, but that's not because it's bad or anything, but because how great some of his other works are.Seems like you can't go wrong with him and everyone's a winner. I hope he will be allowed to make some other quality films in the next 20 years or so because it would sure be a waste of talent if political factors get in the way of his creative process again. Go watch "3 Faces", yeah not the best title, but that's sort of the only criticism I got.