Review of Rosewater (2014) by Manny C — 27 Nov 2014

The backstory alone is riveting. Why on earth would Daily Show host Jon Stewart write and direct a film, much less one about the true story of Maziar Bahari, the Iranian journalist imprisoned for 118 days on charges of spying after he covered that country's 2009 presidential elections? Well, for starters the London-based Bahari had pissed off authorities when he appeared on Stewart's show in a satirical bit about spying. Turning Bahari's 2011 memoir into a feature was the least Stewart could do.

The film is intense and chilling but also full of unexpected humor, a tribute to Stewart's keen eye for how humor surfaces in the darkest of places. This is no thriller a la Argo. Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal plays Bahari, and he's absolutely exceptional in his scenes with the excellent Kim Bodnia, the interrogator who plays horrid mind games with accusations and avoidance. Bahari dubbed him Rosewater for his scent, but the character is no cliched villain. Rather, he's a simple, awful bureaucrat infected by a corrupt system. Stewart I s doing more than making a plea for journalistic freedom. He makes it personal by trying to get at how corrupt societies make monsters of even the most banal of people. It's an excellent debut.