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“This is a film noir. This is a Persian noir,”
Abbasi told Reuters.
The movie takes viewers to the outskirts of the Iranian city,
where serial killer Saeed Hanaei, played by Mehdi Bajestani,
hunts down destitute prostitutes in what he sees as a cleansing
mission.
Pursuing him, investigative journalist Rahimi, played by Zar
Amir Ebrahimi, suspects local corruption is hampering his
arrest.
“We want to build a universe, a universe which is dark, which
has an underbelly, which has vice, which has trouble, which has
all sorts of conflicts ongoing,” said Abbasi. “Is that an
accurate portrait of Iran?”
The movie shows a society that is unforgiving to those who
deviate from its religious rules. When the real life “spider
killer” was caught in 2001, he found support for his argument
that he was stamping out what he called moral corruption,
although he was convicted and executed the following year.
“I'm talking about a real case – we didn't know… would he be
convicted? Would he be punished?” said Abbasi.
The movie, distributed by Metropolitan Filmexport, is one of 21
films vying for the festival’s top prize, the Palme d’Or. Abbasi
won the Cannes prize in the "Un Certain Regard", category in
2018 with “Border."
Describing the contradictory nature of Iranian society, where
women may be highly trained doctors and engineers but are also
subject to tight controls over what they wear and how they look
in public, the director said he sought to expose these tensions.
“This picture is not one sided. There is reason to hope. There's
also reason to fear.”
(Reporting by Mike Davidson; Writing by Mimosa Spencer; Editing
by Frances Kerry)
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