The Seed of the Sacred Fig (2024)
A film worth going to jail for.
Presentation:
It all started with a headscarf. Iran is notoriously rife with censorship so this film is quite the feat considering the director was to go to jail but smuggled the footage to Germany in order to finish this movie. It’s a digital diffused look with a Sony FX6 utilizing the same soft lighting for nearly every scene with production elements below western standards. But the modern visuals and lighting still look quite nice especially considering the context. This film is a political statement and the first half is quite a triumph. It goes off the rails for the second part, but it still hits the target it seeks out because of its strong message. After a while, you will begin to realize that the phone footage in the film could not possibly have been staged, it is actually real protest footage from the Mahsa Amini demonstrations. This really hits home the political social commentary and forces you to pay attention and care about the injustices in Tehran, something you probably didn’t know you should care about.
Analysis:
The film is about the political unrest in Tehran, Iran, sparked by the unjust treatment of Mahsa Amini resulting in her death. Although I vaguely recall a few social media posts, the coverage didn’t last very long so this film attempts to revive it. A father becomes an investigator, sentencing many Iranians to jail or death during the protests. There is a lot of missed opportunity here to delve into more complex narratives, but that’s because it focuses on the Mahsa story. As the story catches fire and the girls also become impressionable, they become more aware and rebellious. Sana ultimately steals the gun, a metaphor for power. During this time, women attempts to take back power in the pursuit of freedom from theocracy and mandatory hijab laws. This film reflects this premise. The father, though mostly with good intentions, ultimately fails in protecting his family and ends up persecuting them instead. He represents the government literally and metaphorically, imprisoning his family, interrogating them, recording them, taking away their phones, etc.
Why does Sana take the gun? I don’t think the film is concrete enough to have a realistic answer. We’ll just have to say it is a prank or revenge on her father for being so controlling, which spirals out of control. Her metaphorical reasoning is “you always give in to him! Nothing will change!” This echoes Iranian women’s fight against the government. Sana's rebellious nature wanting blue hair and painted nails suggests she is actually on the more extreme side of the issue. She does learn quite a lot from foreign media through the vpn including the news that started this as well as how to use a gun. Sure, some of the events unrealistically blow out of proportion. The car chase of the couple serves as mainly action entertainment and to illustrate his descent into a frenzy. The weakest aspect of the film is the debate of whether he’s sympathetic or justified. He ends up distrusting his family and subjugating them to interrogation, but hos girls did end up stealing his gun. Does that justify his actions? Him taking away their phones and imprisoning them certainly doesn’t (let’s ignore why he has cells in his basement). But that’s because they needed a metaphor for censorship. Sana ends up not directly killing him, but burying him in his hometown. This represents the downfall of the regime, a seed of a sacred fig, growing to entangle itself. The film ends with the 3 women without hijabs and more footage of the protests.
Conclusion:
Some parts of this film will be bad and work against itself, but the main message still stands tall despite the flaws. Yes, there are a few plot holes for the sake of political symbolism, because that’s the purpose of the film and it still probably captivated you anyway. There aren’t many prolific films from Iran and for good reason. This film shows why and it’s a miracle it was made especially once you research the context, cast and reasoning behind it. More than just a film, it’s powerfully real, as long as you can forgive a few cinema sins.
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