In July 2019, Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof was sentenced to one year in prison, followed by two years of prohibition to leave the territory and prohibition to engage at the slightest social and political activity. The charge against him was “propaganda against the Islamic Republic and damaged the security of the country”. But since September 2017, he was already deprived of the possibility of circulating freely, working and going abroad, his passport having been confiscated, when he returned to Iran after having gone abroad his film, An honest man. This film, very critical of corruption in his country, had in particular Won the Jury A certain look at the Cannes Film Festival in 2017.
Despite all that, Mohammad Rasoulof still found the means to clandestinely shoot his new film There is no evil – the devil does not exist.
To be able to do so, he had to use subterfuges. He has, for example, chose to divide his film into four short films to bypass censorship and to be able to ask for filming authorizations to the names of four different directors (one per short film) so that his name to him does not appear anywhere. Furthermore, not always being able to be physically present on filming places, Mohammad Rasoulof sometimes gave his instructions at a distance using digital technical means. The choice of often turning indoors or in little frequented places was also a way to escape the inquisitive eye of the authorities. The film was also released from Iranian territory in a clandestine way, also by distinct parts.
Presented in first at 70th Edition of the Berlin Festival in February 2020, The devil does not exist Won there three prizes: the golden bear for the best film, the prize of the film guild and the price of the ecumenical jury.
Berlinale 2020 – “The devil does not exist” wins three prizes, including the golden bear.
After the closing ceremony, the director, attached to the phone, deplored his inability to participate in the festival, and had just declared: “The right to choose between being present or absent at the festival is simply not mine. Imposing such restrictions very clearly exposes the intolerant and despotic nature of the Iranian government ”. He added “The film is on people taking responsibility for their actions. The most difficult when you make a decision is to justify it. ”
The trophy had been given to his daughter Baran Rasoulof, actress in the film. She was accompanied by some actors in the film and by producer Farzad Pak, who wanted to salute the courage of the team “who put his life in danger to be in the film”.
Berlinale 2020 – Director Mohammed Rasoulof on the phone of his daughter Baran.
Synopsis: Iran, nowadays. Heshmat is an exemplary husband and father but no one knows where he is going every morning. Pouya, a young conscript, cannot resolve to kill a man as he is ordered to do. Javad, who came to ask for his beloved in marriage, is suddenly prisoner of a Cornelian dilemma. Bharam, a doctor forbidden to exercise, finally decided to reveal to his niece the secret of a lifetime. These four stories are inexorably linked. In a despotic regime where the death penalty still exists, men and women fight to assert their freedom.
Through this very beautiful film, Mohammad Rasoulof offers us a profound reflection on obedience or not to an authoritarian regime and on the death penalty, but in a new way, and almost without being concerned with the victims. On the contrary, it presents new arguments and especially different angles of views.
For this, he produces four short films, which although distinct, with different characters, places and stories, are still nested in each other and follow a logical order, especially for reflection. Each time the understanding of a story depends on those that preceded it. There is a journey in the thought of Mohammad Rasoulof and in what he wants to show. Each chapter or short film placing itself from a different angle and exploring a different facet of the same subject. The director also does it on purpose to let his different characters discuss, debate, each giving his personal opinion. He tries in this way of ensuring that several opinions are given, that several arguments are put forward. That everyone can then make their choices.
Mohammad Rasoulof raises the suspense little by little. At first, we don’t know where he wants to get it. We follow him, we try to understand, we learn to get to know the characters … And finally, at the end of the first short film, we understand. We understand them. We understand what drives them. And we start to ask questions. In a totalitarian regime what should be done? Obey or not? And if each of us was in the place of these different characters, what would he choose? What decisions to make? What sacrifices is everyone ready to make? What choice to make, knowing that anyway, he will have an impact on his whole life? Follow orders or flee? Fight power or bend on your will?
Very difficult to choose. Especially for young people called for military service, who, if they refused to obey orders, would be deprived of identity papers, driving license, passport, and therefore a normal life. Who could live undocumented?
If we make the parallel between the director and the characters in the film, we could conclude that he personally made his choice. Despite the sanctions and repression, he chose to take risks and make his films, despite all that that implies for him. But that is not within everyone’s reach.
Mohammad Valizadegan and Mahtab Servati, in a scene from the film “The Devil does not exist”
As in her film An honest manMohammad Rasoulof gives an important place to women in The devil does not exist. In these two films at least (I do not know the others), the woman plays an important role: first she exists by herself, is responsible, makes her own choices, makes her own decisions, has her own place in family and society, but in addition she is the companion, the partner, the accomplice, the person with which we share, we discuss, we debate, the person we can count on. This woman is neither erased nor submissive.
The director goes even further in her new film: the woman appears without a sail in certain scenes, while it is an obligation in Iran for any girl/woman from the age of 7 years. Do not wear your veil leads to prison. This obligation concerns all women, without exception, whatever their religion. Is it a way for the director to go further in the provocation or criticism of the regime in place and to express his solidarity towards Iranian women who fight to remove the veil and who are arrested?
The devil does not exist is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful films of this year 2020. The juries of the various festivals where he was selected were not mistaken, since he collects the prices where he spends.
It is a film that we want to see and see again, being certain to discover new reflections and ideas every time. And icing on the cake, two of the short films were shot in very beautiful landscapes to the delight of our eyes, which discover the natural beauty of Iran.
Neïla Driss
